How do you wrap up a franchise like Mission: Impossible? That is, if this even is the final installment. . . as they’ve made it sound (while at the same time, stars not named ‘Tom Cruise’ pipe up and suggest that might not be so). It has been twenty-nine years, with different writers and visionary directors – from twisty Brian De Palma and the action hair stylings of John Woo, to the lens flares of J.J. Abrams and animation expert Brad Bird, it was only about ten years ago that the franchise decided to opt for The Usual Suspects scribe Christopher McQuarrie for the final four. To return to that opening question once more, you could end with a Sopranos’ style cliffhanger, simply make another entertaining movie like the many before – like Everybody Loves Raymond did it with its final episode, or try to tie everything up in a neat little bow by bringing everything together as the Daniel Craig era did with James Bond. Well, it is definitely more along the lines of the latter example, with some distinct differences.
Met with the burden of the most impossible villain yet – A.I., in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning the Impossible Mission Force, which features leader Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), nervous Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), computer wiz Luther Stickwell (Ving Rhames), pickpocket Grace (Hayley Atwell), the fiery Québécois Paris (Pom Klementieff), and the recent intelligence agent Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis), must work together to vanquish this harbinger of doom and gloom. . . all while being chased by the A.I., crafty Gabriel (Esai Morales), the always thorny Kittridge (Henry Czerny), pesky agent Briggs (Shea Whigham), now President Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett), and some new faces too.
Filmizon.com’s Nikolai Adams with Hayley Atwell, who plays Grace in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
With a plan that will bring to mind the Cold War angst of nuclear annihilation – think 1959’s On the Beach, 1964’s Fail Safe, or a less funny version of 1964’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, this is what it all comes down to – the most serious Mission yet (though some will miss the touches of comedy usually found within these films). Leading the team on a wild globetrotting goose chase, you could change Ethan’s name to Treasure and you’ve got an apt description of this storyline – a Treasure Hunt.
Slightly crippled by this gargantuan so-called conclusion, McQuarrie and Cruise attempt to tie everything together, the first mission that might be completely impossible. . . as the fateful strains that are attempted to be united from twenty-nine years of storylines that weren’t meant to be fully connected, makes for the first film from this franchise that doesn’t have pitch perfect pacing (as the first half drags under the narrative strains). Thankfully, Atwell’s English accent and Klementieff’s French dialogue covers up some of the flaws found within. Also, a surprise appearance from the distant past (for those who still remember that far back), is most definitely the best part of this tie-everything-in storyline – I won’t say any more.
Yet, this is still a Mission: Impossible movie – which means it is a spectacular spectacle. Featuring some of the most amazing stunts you’ll see. . . of course done by Tom Cruise himself, I’m not spoiling anything by referencing two: an underwater submarine segment and some World War I era planes featured in some sky-high action. . . as they’ve been already used as plot points in the last movie or been heavily part of the advertising on this one (the poster literally shows the plane!). Stunning, mesmerizing, and mind-boggling – I need say no more.
Despite its flaws, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a stunning example of cinema at its most pure. Thanks to Cruise and McQuarrie, the stunts are real, the CGI is minimal, and the entertainment is maximal – once again placing this amongst rarified air; as Cruise is committed like few others (perhaps some of the silent superstars like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd, Jackie Chan. . . the list is very short). So, choose to accept this Mission, for as Tom Cruise has proven – nothing is Impossible!