There’s an interesting dichotomy in a certain type of movie, where some aspects of the production can come off as so pristine and well-accomplished, whereas other aspects of the same movie feel disjointed and cobbled together. The 8th Mission: Impossible is a good movie – thrilling even, the type of movie that’s meant to be seen on the largest screens, where big crowds break into applause as the credits roll. The film is, if nothing else, a crowd-pleaser. But I also have some questions. For such a grand (supposed) finale, is Gabriel (Esai Morales) really the best we could do for a final big bad? Look, the M:I franchise isn’t exactly known for its impeccable rogues gallery; granted we’ve had the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Henry Cavill, and Jon Voight leave lasting impressions, but then the drop-off from that point is massive. Here, Gabriel is presented as our final adversary for Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), based on a vendetta that goes back 3 decades, but said vendetta was only introduced to us, the audience, in the previous film – Dead Reckoning (2023).
So the hatred that Gabriel has fostered for Ethan already exists without us seeing it in real time. The movie attempts to fill us in on the history, and why Gabriel has Ethan marked for death, but this occurs in hasty flashback images that do not give us much of a chance to get invested in the history between these characters. In fact, Hunt was able to foster more palpably personal rivalries with the aforementioned actors from the previous installments. Worse yet, Gabriel is mostly just a bland mustache-twirling villain, the writers nor Morales being able to infuse the character with enough personality to take hold of the screen. Despite this, The Final Reckoning, somehow/someway, overcomes its narrative shortcomings to still give the audience a jolt of adrenaline, it’s just the movie takes a while to reach its peak.
The film clocks in at 2 hours and 49 minutes, the longest of the franchise, with some complaints filing in about the runtime. Normally, you’d think it’s the back half of a long flick that may have you feeling the hours, but here it’s the first half that seems like it could have several minutes chopped off. The movie opens with what has to be the longest cold open in the franchise, and heavy on exposition. Yet the exposition is not only necessary but interesting, setting the stage for the havoc that a powerful AI program known as The Entity can enact on the world, with Hunt holding the literal key that may save humanity. It’s just that this information is communicated in some middling scenes, replete with less-than-stellar action, given the high bar the series is known for. In a seemingly unprecedented moment for the franchise, one brutal brawl ends off-camera as we can’t see what’s going on, but we can hear the commotion… because comedy, I guess, although it’s not the type of humor that’s consistent in this series. But after we get past all that pageantry, as those opening credits appear, and the heavy bass of that theme comes in, the movie is off.
For a franchise like this, it’s not only a high bar but a great deal of pressure for the finale to match the highs that made the series famous. In that vein, in regards to the film’s ability to wow an audience, the movie meets and even exceeds some of the series’ previous death-defying scenes. Orchestrating an elaborate mission to find a MacGuffin from the series’ past in the depths of the ocean, director Christopher McQuarrie takes us back underwater in what has become a trend since 2015’s Rogue Nation. While Dead Reckoning utilized its submarine scene to start that movie off strong, here McQuarrie takes his time enjoying the surroundings, giving us an extended moment under the sea. In contrast to the series’ usual breakneck pace, this moment is a bit more serene, giving the audience a chance to truly bask in the scenery. The ending of the scene features a rescue that is also a callback to Rogue Nation, although this aspect isn’t as well done or as heartfelt as its predecessor.
The climax of the film centers around an astonishingly dynamic plane sequence, as two aircrafts engage in a topsy-turvy athletic battle. Showing that it’s increasingly difficult to reinvent the wheel as time goes on, this moment is also reminiscent of similar fights in Mission: Impossible (1996) and Fallout (2018), but also finds a way to stand on its own. A critical moment in the scene is comedic in a way not normally done with the villains in this franchise, and that’s at least the second time that the film’s humor sprouts in an uncharacteristic way. This moment, however, at least catches you off guard in its humor and audacity.
The film carries the weight of a finale, but that manifests in some weird ways, which I believe is related to how the franchise has often conducted itself. To put it simply, the Mission: Impossible films are not movies tailor-made for concluding chapters in the way Hollywood likes to make concluding chapters. Typically, Hollywood likes conclusions that involve tying up a ton of loose ends, paying off longstanding storylines, and indulging in the emotional weight of the character dynamics. These movies aren’t built for that as they were designed to position Ethan Hunt as an ass-kicking everyman whose personal connections to the civilized world are loosely tethered at best. He doesn’t have a significant other or a family. He has friends, but they’re all people he works with, and it doesn’t seem like they hang out a lot outside of saving the world. This type of storytelling is perfect if you just want an infallible main character who can vacillate from one franchise installment to the next, without that character being emotionally compromised from his past experiences. It’s the James Bond model; it’s closer to episodic storytelling.
But put that same character and world in a movie looking to sell itself as the conclusion of a grand saga… and the film has some difficulty deciding what to focus on or what to even conclude. Many of the franchise’s characters, including Ethan’s greatest love Julia (Michelle Monaghan), are only seen again in flashback. Rolf Saxon, of all people, does show up, his appearance a respectful nod to the original film’s iconic, Rififi (1955) inspired, heist scene. It’s a rare occasion where the in-universe significance of an event actually manages to match our attachment to the reference as an audience. I can imagine this guy remembering that moment in his life forever, as he reminiscences how Ethan Hunt pulled off such an incredible stunt and pulled one over on him. He didn’t have another day on the job anywhere near as exciting, wouldn’t you tell people about that day for the rest of your life?
The film attempts to muster similar feelings of whimsy between Ethan and his friendships with Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg), but they leave a lot to be desired. Mostly because the prior films did not dedicate much time to getting us invested in their relationships, beyond their usefulness for a wise-cracking team of crime fighters. I guess in previous films, Luther made an effort to guide Ethan on his life decisions, including but not limited to the latter’s love life. That is largely continued here, with Luther mostly serving to remind Ethan that he is very special, and the chosen one, and the most awesome person on planet earth, etc. Much of what happens in The Final Reckoning seems to be franchise maintenance to phase out certain aging actors, even if the weight of these developments doesn’t feel as significant as it should be. In fact, one could look at the conclusion of this movie and question how much of it feels like a finale at all. The movie certainly dresses itself up like a finale, but studios know how to leave that door just ajar (or wide open, with a spare key under the rug, in this case).
With all that said, The Final Reckoning doesn’t have to worry about being its series’ worst entry, but it can’t make a great argument for the franchise’s best. For as thrilling, well-shot, action-packed, and grand as it is – clearly, the storytelling and psychology of the characters aren’t the film’s strong suits. I even struggle to define what’s going on between Hunt and Grace (Hayley Atwell), and the movie struggles with that too. It’s a film that gets by on death-defying setpieces but said setpieces are so well done that it almost feels like the movie is cheating by not being nutritious and paying enough attention to the fundamentals. Make no mistake, The Final Reckoning has a weak script, and a pretty generic message about peace and togetherness that feels determined to be as inoffensive as possible. But watching it is still an overwhelming experience, at times. Not unlike the latex masks these characters frequently use, disguising itself as a better movie than our logical brains should give it credit for being.
