Has Ethan Hunt accepted his last mission? “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning” certainly makes it seem so. And if Tom Cruise’s own words on the subject are to be believed – he’s been quoted as saying “It’s not called final for nothing” – we might indeed be at the end of his impressive three-decade run in the role. Not that the entire internet agrees, mind you, but does it ever?
Whether or not Tom is truly done playing Ethan, “Final Reckoning” feels very much like the last chapter of a grand tale. Honestly, I don’t know how they can make another one after this with Cruise or any action star. The stakes in “Final Reckoning” are so huge, so total, they completely obliterate the possibility of something bigger in a future installment. As we catch up with them after the events of “Dead Reckoning” in 2023, Ethan and his team are staring down the barrel of nothing less than complete human annihilation. It’s not just one nuke, or one computer virus or one contagion. It is the utter end of all life as we know it that they are attempting to stave off. It’s too much, and the film sags under the weight of it. Each impossible action set piece, no matter how intricately choreographed or thrillingly executed, seems silly if you think about the central crux of the plot too much. Equally ridiculous in this context is the moralizing and hectoring of the various characters who think it is their job to make Ethan feel responsible for everything. My solution was to essentially ignore the main dilemma and focus instead on the intermediate ones. That’s where all the fun is anyhow.
The life-or-death action puzzles that Ethan and his crew must solve in “Final Reckoning” are a blast. Everyone has seen the biplane stunts in the trailer. It’s as amazing in full context as it is at a glance, but there are so many more crazy set-ups to enjoy over the course of this nearly 3-hour experience. The diving sequence in the sunken Russian sub is a real stand-out. Everything Ethan puts himself through is so preposterous, I would have laughed if I had any breath left in my lungs. The group that supports Ethan is largely the same as the one from “Dead Reckoning”, but I must give special mention to Ving Rames, who has been playing Luther since the very beginning. Luther and Ethan have a few moments of reflection about their many years together in the Impossible Missions Force. These heartfelt interactions confirm just how important teamwork has been to Ethan Hunt’s success, and to Tom Cruise’s. It seems like yet another indication that all the torches are being passed. I only wish more had been done to make Esai Morales’ character Gabriel a better villain after “Dead Reckoning”. With this new script, he is still as weak a bad guy as you will ever find in a spy movie. His motivations and monologues are pure cliché. Even The Entity, the evil, world-breaking and almost entirely silent artificial intelligence everyone is trying to stay ahead of, has more interpersonal charisma.
With “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning” we may have arrived at the end of an era. Time, and Tom, will tell. He would hate me to mention it, but he is in his 60s now. And, even though he still looks and performs stunts like a much younger man, he probably can’t keep doing this kind of movie much longer. It isn’t perfect, but “Final Reckoning” gives fans of the franchise a pretty darn good farewell. Theaters all over the world owe a lot to Tom Cruise and his on-screen friends. Make sure you watch this movie in one.
