Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in a battle against all odds to stop the destructive and manipulative power of a machiavellian AI (known only as the “Entity”) from falling into the wrong hands. As the Entity has evolved, it has become more free thinking and powerful and now, Hunt and his team learn it has the ambition to shape a new world under its vision. To prevent this, Hunt must deal with Gabriel, the servant to the Entity, as his actions become more and more radicalized under its influence. Hunt will have to go to the ends of the earth to collect what he needs in order to ensure the survival of humanity, even if it costs him in the process.

Before I get into the details of the story, I want to highlight the technical work being done here. The acting has some new standouts. I have to highlight Trammel Tillman as a beacon of charisma as he stands out in a small collection of notable actors who are given bit roles. (What’s more, his work here proves that there are others outside of the Severance writing team who can give him some strong dialogue.) Pam Nemdoff also has great presence, Simon Pegg is the same loveable man, and the aging Rhames gets his moment in the spotlight. Finally, Esai Morales is delightfully evil and the other small roles filled by all stars like Angela Bassett, Nick Offerman and Holt McCallney are all well-received. 

Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt and Esai Morales plays Gabriel in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

Admittedly, the soundtrack is missing some of the energy that Lorne Balfe brought to Cruise’s latest films, including the last Mission: Impossible and Top Gun: Maverick. As such, the score often feels generic in its last moments. The excitement and originality of the score doesn’t often fit the scale of the action on display. As a result, the music doesn’t quite make the mark.

The film may seemingly need all the exposition to set up key moments but there are storylines that are too long. Angela Bassett works well enough alongside Holt McCauley and Nick Offerman as her military advisors. However, the film doubles down on trying to get us invested in this timeline with twists and turns. This group of scenes is not nearly as interesting as the action that Ethan Hunt and his team get involved in, making the story feel longer than it needed to in the end.

Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

The editing is excellent and a worthy example to study for any aspiring action filmmakers as no scene overstays its welcome. However, for the sake of the story, I could see the benefit in cutting out some scenes entirely, even though the editing is well done. (For example, there is only one scene where the editing fails to inform us where cars are relative to their surroundings.) Even so, that is a rarity in what is generally a film full of the most amazing and well-orchestrated stunts in the history of movies.

However, if this Mission was not the most impressive action spectacle of the century, it would likely be forgotten story-wise as the script is often bogged down by cliches. Even my effort to check out most of the first Mission: Impossible films gave me more satisfaction while I watched Dead Reckoning’s excessive amount of flashback montages as it tries to sum up Ethan Hunt’s choices and how they lead to his ‘final reckoning’. As a result, it may be impossible to truly care about these characters because the script’s emotional investment is more focused on our broader humanity than the individual characters. There are no serious character arcs. Ethan Hunt has the same goal he has always had and the film’s message comes more directly from the plot’s high stakes, rather than any personal stakes.

Tom Cruise and Director Christopher McQuarrie on the set of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

As such, the action has to do a lot of the carrying to make this film stand out. Luckily, Tom has the capacity to deliver world class action that will certainly delight fans. Tom Cruise, as a larger than life figure, is always taking on roles where he appears to not be from this world but, in this film series, he serves humanity to the best of his ability. Ethan Hunt believes, like we all should, in a better humanity. As a result, even though the exposition is long, Final Reckoning does use that to deliver interesting scenes that confront the division that humanity faces in the real world. This film points out the lack of cohesion that makes unity far from reality and highlights the forces that are making unity even farther from our grasp.

Ethan Hunt and his crew are constantly forced to gain the trust of those who have power over them. As the audience, this is a goal that we can engage with because we trust Ethan and he fights for freedom. He, like we all should, believes in our collective ability to help shape the world for the better. While those in the media are free to sow division and fear, this film highlights a group of people who fight in the shadows and serve without thanks. They do us all a service that we do not recognize. It’s nice to believe that, in our world, there are lots of people like Ethan Hunt out there fighting for humanity’s best interests. 

Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt, Hayley Atwell plays Grace and Simon Pegg plays Benji Dunn in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

Final Reckoning is full of optimism. This film is due to excite those with a love for humanity as Ethan shows that humans are capable of doing good in ways no one thought possible. They are the superhero’s without either supernatural or political power but who, seemingly through sheer willpower, save and help the people next to them. In a world that is full of posts and videos calling out the worse in humanity, The Final Reckoning tries to stand out as a film about the people who are removed from that. Ethan and his team believe they will get the best from one another and they ask it of those they have never met.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is in theatres on Friday, May 23rd, 2025.