MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING. Starring Tom Cruise, Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg and Angela Bassett. Director Christopher McQuarrie. Rated M (mature themes and action violence). 169 min.
The film is directed by McQuarrie from a screenplay written with Erik Jendresen and is the sequel to Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One (2023). Several actors and actresses return to reprise their roles from previous Mission Impossible films.
Ethan Hunt (Cruise) again stars as special IMF (Impossible Mission Force) agent, who heads a team of operatives to protect the world from evil forces. The film is reported to be one of the most expensive films ever made, coming in close to US$400 million. Filming takes place in attractive scenic locations across Malta, South Africa and Norway.
Hunt and his team continue their search for a terrifying AI force known as ‘The Entity’ which corrupts digital information worldwide to take control of a possible World War III, which it sees as coming. It uses intelligence networks across the world for evil intent.
The storyline takes up immediately after Dead Reckoning. The evil force is still Gabriel (Morales), who is an assassin tied to Ethan’s past, and who acts as the Entity’s chief liaison. As in other Mission Impossible films, there are a host of special agents of differing political persuasions trying to track Ethan Hunt and his team down for their own purposes. Bassett delivers an especially compelling version of a conflicted US President, who is stressed by what is happening, but decides to finally respond to preserve peace.
This is an incredible action-packed film, replete with amazing action stunts. The tension created by Cruise’s stunts permeate the film, and suspense in the movie stays impressively intact. One stunt, in particular, shows Cruise hanging onto the wing of a plane in flight, while it flies upside down. Not surprisingly Cruise says this is the last Mission Impossible film and this scene, which brings the film to closure, is worth the price of admission. Almost equally impressive are the film’s underwater scenes. In this movie, thrills, excitement, daring and paranoid intent is the name of the game.
The plotline continues to revolve around dense and complex storytelling, but it is Cruise’s live stunt work and the technological background to the film that set it apart. The collaboration over many years between McQuarrie and Cruise cements the basic appeal of an impressive action movie.
Paramount Pictures
Released 17 May 2025