Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writer: Christopher McQuarrie, Erik Jendresen
Sequel to: Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible II, Mission: Impossible III, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Angela Bassett, Shea Whigham, Cary Elwes, Charles Parnell, Mark Gatiss, Katy O’Brian
Seen on: 28.5.2025

Plot:
Even though Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team have won a little victory over the AI known as The Entity, the war is far from over. In fact, it looks like The Entity is winning, and things get more and more desperate. As Luther (Ving Rhames) is racing to finish the malware to end the AI, Ethan is still pursued by Gabriel (Esai Morales) who works for the Entity and needs the key to the soruce code that Ethan secured. In one final bid for the safety of the world, Ethan needs to risk it all again.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning ends this long-standing franchise not so much with a bang, but with an eyeroll, I’m afraid. It was a disappointing thing.

Plot was never the biggest strength in this franchise, and often served to bring us the action they envisioned rather than they other way round. But the plots usually worked enough to still carry the films. With this final film, this is, unfortunately, not the case anymore. There is on the one hand, a fundamental misunderstanding of how to end an AI (apparently, this computer program can’t be copied, for example; and then, once you have it captured, you can’t destroy it by jumping on the glorified USB stick it is on because [no reasons given]).

On the other hand, the convoluted plot gibberish went so far that I really didn’t understand the point they were trying to make – and they very cleary did try to say something profound about what Ethan Hunt stands for or against, what this character says about the state of the world and the meaning of morality. Or something. Anything. Maybe, it seems to be saying, Ethan Hunt is a saint.

It all culminates in a plane chase scene that is, really, fantastic action handywork but makes no sense whatsoever in terms of characters. Gabriel has been chasing Ethan the entire time to get the key. He has Ethan cornered and ready to give the key over (for reasons of his own). And then Gabriel says, well, catch me if you can to give me the key – and flies off? WHAT THE EVERLOVING FUCK???

The film is a mess. Katy O’Brien’s sheer presence kept me floating through (unfortunately, she is only in a few scenes, but those moments are enough to make me instantly reconfirm that yes, I am totally into women, uh-huh), buoyed by Pom Klementieff’s excellent performance. The action is beautiful, I don’t deny it. But as a movie, as a story and as an ending, the film falls on its face otherwise.

Summarizing: sad, but not in the right way.