"Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning:" A Deeply Flawed Odyssey That Still Soars

Brian De Palma's Mission Impossible arrived in theaters on May 22nd, 1996 and set in motion one of the most iconic action movie series of all time. Over the course of nearly three decades, the saga has gone through numerous villains, love interests, and directors, but the death-defying stunts, exhilarating action and charisma of Tom Cruise have had audiences returning to theaters for an unprecedented number of installments. But after a legendary run, the series finally came to a close last night in the form of Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning in the Grand Lumière Theater at the legendary Cannes Film Festival.

Clocking in at 170 minutes, The Final Reckoning it is the longest Mission Impossible film to date, and the first hour really struggles to find its footing. There is a ghastly over-reliance on flashbacks to previous entries in the franchise, including one particularly annoying supercut of Cruise’s best moments in one of the opening scenes. It doesn’t feel immediately as if the filmmakers trust the audience to have done any ounce of homework. There is a heavy reliance on previous films, and tie-ins from them, so by the eighth film in a franchise, it should be time to acknowledge that people are either on this ride till the end, or they got off a long time ago. Nevertheless, the various ways that this film connects itself with all of the previous entries does feel earned, and unlike Dead Reckoning.

The first hour also struggles with where it wants to put its focus thematically. There is a really intriguing sense of awareness that the outside world has in the film’s universe to what the IMF is looking to accomplish, but we only ever get surface level glimpses, and the amount of time we spend on them has absolutely no payoff. There is easily twenty or so minutes there that could be either cut, or re-arranged. The buildup to the iconic opening song and title card has never felt sloppier in the history of the franchise. 

For being as long running of a franchise as it is, the Mission: Impossible movies have been fantastic in a lot of ways, (barring the second installment) particularly in the stunts and action department. When it comes to The Final Reckoning, it serves us some of the most flawed storytelling in the entire franchise, while still managing to maintain significant intrigue, as well as new peaks with tension and heart-stopping stunts. 

There is a palpable feeling of dread to this film compared to the others that does not go unnoticed. Not much about it felt final, and the end certainly leaves it open for future installments if the filmmakers so desire, but the stakes do legitimately feel higher than ever before. There is a sequence nearly forty minutes in, that is going to make or break the film for a lot of people. It’s something I was not entirely sure about in the moment, but have grown to really appreciate. Especially since from that sequence on, the film grounds its roots, takes off flying, and doesn’t let up for the rest of the runtime. 

There is much more suspense and espionage in this film than one might expect, and the action is more spread out. But when it hits, it hits hard. The action is more violent than in previous entires, with two moments in particular in the beginning, and finale being rather shocking. For how many storylines wind up happening concurrently, the way that they all connect in the final hour is damn near seamless, and gives the third act of Fallout a run for its money in the white-knuckled department. Cruise really outdoes himself in two particular sequences in the film, but the third act is legitimately jaw-dropping. However, I will say that my only concern is that if for some reason they do decide to make another one, the action will begin to fall into Fast and Furious territory in terms of absurdity. There are a few moments in particular in this film that really toe the line, and if taken any farther, realism will likely begin to falter. 

As previously mentioned, there is next to nothing about this film that feels “final”, and many characters feel as if there are still large chunks of their arcs that still need to be followed through on. We get some really significant, and interesting development for Ethan Hunt, Benji, and Grace as characters in particular, but it still doesn’t feel like we’ve gotten close to the end for them. 

Despite the many undeniable issues of the film, for the entirety of the runtime, even when I found myself mildly annoyed in the back of my head, I was still basking in the wonder, and the joy of seeing a film like this on such a loud, large screen. I have seen many comparisons over the last day to The Rise of Skywalker, The Dark Knight Rises, or even Spider-Man 3, and I agree with many of them on the principle that this film is deeply flawed, and tries to tackle way too much, but what I love about The Final Reckoning more than those other films is the heart, and love for cinema deeply rooted in the center. There is no ulterior motive at play, no other entity (pun intended) that needs satisfying, no greater universe tie-in, or toxic fandom to please, it just is so wholly, and unapologetically itself. And in a world full of corporate made, soulless blockbusters, it’s far more of a treat than we realize to see a film of this scale, and this level of insanity that still at the very least has a soul.