Writer of Pop Culture

Well, this is it. The end. Tom Cruise will be looking for a new franchise soon. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (part 2 of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning) closes the cover on a highly successful series.

It’s hard to believe, but we’ve been watching Mission: Impossible movies since 1996. Other than Fast & Furious (13 movies) and James Bond (27 movies) very few franchises last this long with each one better than the last.

With a budget falling somewhere between $300 -$400 million, The Final Reckoning is one of the most expensive movies ever made and it looks like it. But even though the 8th film is a continuation of the 7th, this one has a whole different tone to it. Dead Reckoning was fast and fun. Final Reckoning is more thoughtful. There’s a whole lot of touching speeches, which are fine, but I mean, come on, the world is about to end, and everyone has a lot to say. It’s a bit too much at times.

With that said, writer and director, Christopher McQuarrie has done an amazing job of connecting every previous Mission: Impossible story and incorporate them into this movie. Sure, the movie trailers teased the idea, but the result really works and is actually very clever.

Movie #8 takes place about two months after the previous one and the artificial intelligence enemy known as the Entity has worked itself into cyberspace dividing the world and threatening a nuclear apocalypse. And of course, only Ethan Hunt (Cruise) can stop it. Ethan has always played the hero, but this time around, he’s practically the Messiah.

Ethan’s plan is to destroy the Entity, but assassin Gabriel (Esai Morales), keeps getting in the way. He too fears the direction that the Entity is heading, but he thinks that he can control it if he can get his hands on it. But while Ethan tries to stop Gabriel, Agent Jasper Briggs (Shea Whigham) is trying to stop Ethan.

Aiding Ethan on his quest to save the planet is reformed pickpocket, Grace (Hayley Atwell) along with Luther Stickell (computer tech Ving Rhames), Benji Dunn (techy Simon Pegg) and a couple of surprises. The movie also stars Pom Kelmentieff (as Paris, a French assassin), Henry Czerny (as Eugene Kittridge the director of the CIA trying to stop Ethan), a restrained Nick Offerman (as General Sidney, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), Greg Tarzan Davis (intelligence agent Theo Degas), Tramell Tillman (Captain Bledsoe), Hannah Waddingham (Admiral Neely) and Angela Bassett (as Erika Sloane, the president of the United States). This is one of Bassett’s best performances.

But even with this large cast, this is Cruise’s movie. It is even labeled as such in the credits saying, “A Tom Cruise Production.” The movie is less of an ensemble and more of an ego project for the actor. His character is almost immortal, swimming to the bottom of the sea and flying in the clouds hanging onto a biplane with his bare hands. At times, the movie veers close to superhero territory, but not quite. Fortunately, it is all very impressive, over-the-top, and exciting.

Clocking in at two hours and 49 minutes, The Final Reckoning goes out with a bang. But is this really the end? Could this series continue with yet another chapter? I suppose it could, but I’m not sure where it would go from here.

Main Image: Paramount Pictures