Mission: Impossible review- The film does a recap not only of the last film but all seven previous outings, with montages of earlier films peppered throughout
Stills from the film
Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett, Esai Morales, Mariela Garriga, Pasha Lychnikoff, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham
Writer/Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Rating: 3/5
Runtime: 169 min
One of the most expensive films ever made, with an estimated budget of $300-400 million, Cruise’s Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning, 8th one in the franchise series, has McQuarrie writing and directing and longtime collaborators of Lorne Balfe, Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey composing the score. Covid and SAG-AFTRA strike notwithstanding, the film finally makes it to the theaters.
At 169 min it’s a long haul with Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt riding an unwieldy, repetitive and pretentious first hour to eventually convert the experience to one that is hugely extravagant but bearable.
The film does a recap not only of the last film but all seven previous outings, with montages of earlier films peppered throughout. The opening act gets bogged down in some long-winded exposition and the action sequences only kick in during the second act. Cruise has obviously been trafficking in nostalgia reminding us of the good ol’ days by welcoming back the likes of Henry Czerny and Rolf Saxon into the fold. However, once the narrative gets over the expository predilection, The Final Reckoning delivers where it counts.
In terms of scale The Final Reckoning is gargantuan and the stakes are raised higher than ever before. There’s no big ticket action set-piece opening this showboat though.
The plot involves something called The Entity, which deploys deep fakes to create mistrust and incite chaos with an avowed goal to eliminate humanity by compromising nuclear weapons.
Hunt is in hiding, brought back in by President Sloane (Angela Bassett) to stop the impending doom. Hunt’s allies Luther (Ving Rhames), Benji (Simon Pegg), and Grace (Hayley Atwell), are joined this time by Paris (Pom Klementieff), and, Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis). Familiar faces including Janet McTeer, Holt McCallany, and Nick Offerman butt in while Hannah Waddingham works in an effective supporting role.
Ethan Hunt holds the key to Padkova, The Entity’s source code that is embedded deep inside the wreckage of a Russian submarine. Ethan’s ragtag crew must find the coordinates of the Russian sub’s wreckage and then head to a South African data center to capture The Entity before Gabriel (Esai Morales) from “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” gets going on his path to world domination. Makes sense? The plot is nonsense. Never mind. This is meant to be an actioner after all.
Ethan Hunt is the guy who gets the job done. Cruise performs the daredevil stunts with ease but dangling from a pilotless biplane midair while attempting to hop onto Gabriel’s biplane, does not exactly constitute movie magic. But despite it not making logical sense the biplane sequence delivers some pulse-pounding action. A submarine sequence in the second act makes for one of most intense set-pieces in the franchise. Stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood along with cinematographer Fraser Taggert’s camera captures great footage of brutal hand-to-hand fights and amazing vehicular feats.
The Final Reckoning mostly panders to fan service and comes across as ham-fisted and contrived, yet manages to just about hold up.
Cruise is in fine form. The supporting actors, save for Angela Bassett who lends worth to a cameo, are mostly stiff. The IMAX presentation makes it a tad more beguiling. Nearly 45 minutes of the film presented in the full 1.90:1 IMAX exclusive aspect ratio, provides a fully immersive experience. The high on energy and action second half saves this experience from being a chaotic washout.
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