Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning - 7.7/10

Jadd J.A.D.D. Jadd

I chose and accepted this mission, and I'm glad I did because it was a thrilling and satisfying conclusion to the Mission: Impossible franchise. The spy and espionage genre has never really been my favourite genre. James Bond is the expectation because it was the first to introduce me to the spy/espionage world. But I do believe that the movies in this franchise are Ghost Protocol and Fallout are the best, and I do love those movies. Christopher McQuarrie goes above and beyond to deliver an excellent swan song with his imaginative flair of crafting the action sequences, directing actors, pushing the story forward and making you care for the characters.

Tom Cruise drives and crashes his performance for his final time playing Ethan Hunt. His character comes full circle and is such a believable leader and mentor both on and off-screen. Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Angela Bassett all give A+ performances and carry their own in this.

The action and set pieces are white, bare-knuckle intense, and creative. It was purely and simply a high-octane adrenaline rush. Nothing is held back; Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise give everything to push the envelope of what can be done, and it is such a massive win. The plane and submarine sequences are truly thunderously daring and gripping, so you cannot stop watching it.

The filmmaking is superb, filming on location and using CGI sparingly is very noticeable in the best way possible. Overall, on a technical level, it is top-notch. Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey's score is exceptional; every composer who has worked on this franchise has felt their stamp on this and retooling the theme, and this is an extravaganza sendoff.

Now, that being said. Some massive issues that stood out to me. The runtime is two hours and fifty minutes long. I don't have a problem with that, considering this franchise goes back to 1996. However, the first thirty minutes were a slog to sit through, but then it grabbed my attention halfway through. Tom Cruise has chemistry with almost everyone, and so does Hayley Atwell, but they have pretty much zero to no chemistry on screen together. I didn't believe in their banter or relationship, it just fell flat.

The best villain in the entire franchise was Phillip Seymour Hoffman's Owen Davian in the third instalment. The villains have been just the regular villains of the week, and Gabriel Martinell, played by Esai Morales, is no exception. I need to see more movies with Esai Morales because this script and his dialogue hold him back.

Without spoiling it, there are a lot of great character actors who make an appearance, and they feel very stiff and flat. The characters they were playing were very generic archetypes that have to be in a movie like this, but the actors tried.

Speaking of the script, it was convoluted and artificial. No one spoke normally; it was all long-winded and self-indulgent speeches and monologues, which is my biggest problem with this movie, unfortunately. Only with this movie and franchise, but the entire spy and espionage genre, except Ghost Protocol and Fallout and a few of the Bond movies.

In conclusion, despite all of my problems with it. I still recommend this and encourage you to see it on the biggest possible screen. IMAX is the way to go with all blockbusters and other movies that use IMAX cameras. If you love this franchise and want to see how it ends, then this is the mission you wouldn't want to miss.