Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning is an over-the-top spectacle

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Christopher McQuarrie helms this part 2 to Dead Reckoning (2023), where Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his Impossible Missions Force must save the world from the artificial intelligence known as the Entity, which is taking control of the world’s nuclear weapons. As soon as the Entity is able to move from the Internet to its hiding place—a secure digital bunker in South Africa—it will launch a nuclear Armageddon. Hunt and his team must retrieve the Entity’s source code from a sunken Russian sub and use the “poison pill”—malware designed by Luther (Ving Rhames)—to destroy the Entity before it’s too late. (169 min.)

Glen: If you’ve never seen any of the previous Mission: Impossible films dating back to the 1996 original, never fear. You can enjoy Final Reckoning as the pure cinematic spectacle that it is. However, if you’re a fan of the franchise, you’ll be rewarded with lots of references, flashbacks, and callbacks to previous films. It’s a truly epic installment with incredible action sequences and stunts. The two big set pieces are a super tense scene of Hunt diving the sub wreck and a mindboggling biplane aerial scene as Hunt retrieves the source code from the Entity’s former henchman, Gabriel (Esai Morales), who hopes to control the Entity himself. Naturally, every point of the impossible operation is seconds away from failure. The film is bloated, over the top, and bigger in every way—exactly what you’d expect from a franchise’s final entry. (Though is it? Ka-ching!) 

Anna: It seems pretty wild to me that someone would walk into this film with no prior viewings of the previous six and a half, but you’re right—you could still have fun with this spectacle of a film. The sub scene and the aerial scene played the mind-bending trick of turning your eyes’ perspective on its head. It was dizzying to say the least. The first film came out when I was a kid. I loved it then and I love it now. While Cruise can be someone I watch begrudgingly, the dude knows how to make a film. He’s got that movie star magic that holds your attention on the big screen. At almost three hours, this film is certainly a commitment, but one that’s worth it if you’re in the mood for some high flying, over-the-top action. Hunt’s quest is to save humanity, and in this film, he’s more introspective than ever about the ripple effects of past actions and choices. This film brings the crew together for one final mission, and we get a few new fun characters too. Well, one is actually an old character, but with a new life that we get to catch up on. I’m a sucker for these films for some reason, and I’m clearly not alone—this franchise has been a beast over the last 29 years.

Glen: Certainly one reason for the franchise’s success is its choice of directors. The great Brian De Palma directed the 1996 original. Hong Kong action auteur John Woo helmed the second. Then-rising Hollywood whiz kid J.J. Abrams headed the third. Brad Bird directed four. McQuarrie directed the rest of the series, and I honestly can’t believe this is the end.

Anna: The franchise certainly shows the money behind it. It’s slick and big, and mind-boggling in its budget. I can’t use the word “spectacle” enough with this one. If it truly is the final film of the franchise, they went out with a bang.

Arts Editor Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Split Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.

This article appears in May 29 – Jun 8, 2025.