REVIEW: ‘Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning’: A Spectacle Undermined By Its Own Legacy

After so many years of delays between the COVID pandemic and the WGA's strike, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is finally hitting theaters on May 23.

What seems to be the final installment of the saga judging by all the film's promotional material, The Final Reckoning is the culmination of the franchise celebrating all the previous entries. However, when it comes to crafting its own story, the film struggles, weighed down by constant callbacks to past films. This especially affects the pacing as the movie has a hard time finding its rhythm.

Angela Bassett as the President of the United Stats in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning © Paramount Pictures

The first hour is a complete mess with an overwhelming number of scenes strung together without a clear logical progression. This also shows in an overall edit of the saga with some very stylish moments (many of which appear in the trailer), but at times it’s merely a sequence of shots with no real artistic direction to the point that it feels amateurish and makes you wonder how it even got approved. As a result, it’s really difficult to get into the film at the beginning until you finally reach the government arc where the movie finally settles down, gives the audience some room to breath and excels at conveying stakes that have never been higher in the franchise. The stakes are so high that the film becomes genuinely anxiety-inducing and dark.

Where the movie falls flat the most is in its treatment of the supporting characters and the team dynamic. That’s always been one of the franchise's biggest strengths: the chemistry and bond between Ethan, Luther, Benji, Ilsa… But in The Final Reckoning, the supporting cast is completely sidelined to put all the focus on Ethan. I would even go as far as saying the film nearly ruins the wonderful character arcs established in the previous movie.

Paris, Degas, Ethan Hunt, Benji and Grace in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning © Paramount Pictures

In Dead Reckoning, Grace (Hayley Atwell) brought a refreshing energy that gave the franchise a much-needed boost. She had great chemistry with Ethan. Their constant push and pull was magnetic and really came through on screen. I was even witnessing compelling character development: she went from a self-serving thief to someone who starts to care about others and show altruism (even if, granted, that change was under threat). All of that made her character genuinely interesting and full of potential but it’s completely wasted in this film. She barely serves any purpose beyond giving Ethan longing looks. A romance is heavily implied but it’s hard to take it seriously because it just doesn’t feel believable.

Paris (Pom Klementieff) who was a total badass in Dead Reckoning and had changed course after Ethan spared her life, is now supposedly driven by revenge but ends up being reduced to a running gag. The only times she speaks are to describe what’s happening on screen or what’s about to happen. Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis) who previously dealt with inner conflict and constant doubt about Ethan’s real intentions, joins the team but brings absolutely nothing to the table. I honestly couldn’t even tell you the last time he spoke.

In Dead Reckoning, Gabriel (Esai Morales) was a fantastic villain: calm, ruthless, seemingly unstoppable. In The Final Reckoning, he becomes nearly a joke, utterly forgettable, despite the solid foundations that had been laid for a potential truly iconic antagonist.

All in all, I couldn’t emotionally invest myself in any of these characters that once made me love this franchise and that’s a deeply frustrating feeling. They’re there on screen but they don’t add much to the film beyond advancing the plot.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) underwater in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning © Paramount Pictures

A good Mission: Impossible movie doesn’t exist without Tom Cruise defying the laws of physics. And I think it’s safe to say this is the biggest practical action movie ever made. Once again, Tom flirts with death with stunts so insane that he’s managed to elevate the franchise to the next level. For me, the underwater sequence is without a doubt the highlight of the film. It was a pleasure to discover it in theaters, especially since so little of it had been revealed in the promotional material. It’s one of the longest stunts with the most striking visuals. The shot where the submarine door opens and reveals the enemy feels straight out of a horror movie: daunting and haunting. Even though there’s no dialogue for at least 15 minutes, the visual storytelling and terrific sound design manage to convey everything you need to feel. Everything looks so real because… it is. They built one of the largest water tanks in the world. The production design is remarkable with an amazing attention to details.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) hanging from a biplane in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning © Paramount Pictures

As for the airplane stunt, I don’t even need to talk about it. The physical condition Tom Cruise maintains at his age is superhuman. However, outside of these two major set pieces, the rest of the action scenes are quite forgettable. Ethan’s signature run is almost entirely absent, save for two short moments. Fortunately, the film still manages to make me laugh with its classic humor, largely thanks to Tom Cruise’s excellent comedic timing which I think is still underrated.

In the end, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning gets lost in a story that fails to break free from the previous films. The repeated flashbacks hurt the pacing more than they help and prevent the movie from finding its own rhythm. The forgettable score and villain don’t help either. Thankfully, amidst all this mess, Tom Cruise and McQuarrie still manage to deliver a worthy spectacle with some of the greatest stunts ever filmed, making it absolutely worth seeing in IMAX for that reason alone.

Rating: ★★★½

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Title. © Studio

About Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

Premiere Date: May 23, 2025 

Writer: Christopher McQuarrie, Erik Jendresen

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Production: Paramount Pictures, Skydance, TC Productions

Distribution: Paramount Pictures

Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett, Pom Klementieff, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Esai Morales

Synopsis: Ethan Hunt and the IMF team race against time to find the Entity, a rogue artificial intelligence that can destroy mankind.