REVIEW "Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning" (2025)

REVIEW "Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning" (2025)

• Actors: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Tramell Tillman, Angela Bassett 
• Music: Max Aruj, Alfie Godfrey 
• Cinematography: Fraser Taggert 
• Producers: Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie Running 
• Time: 170 Minutes 
• Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie, Erik Jendresen 
• Direction: Christopher McQuarrie

The Entity, an advanced AI, is rapidly invading the cyberspace of other countries and seizing their nuclear arsenals. In four days, it will have total control over the four remaining nations: United Kingdom, China, Russia and the United States. In the U.S., President Erika Sloane (Honorary Oscar Winner Angela Bassett) leads a security council with General Sydney (Nick Offerman), Secretary of Defense Serling (Holt McCallany), NRO chief (Charles Parnell), Walters (Janet McTeer) and Angstrom (Mark Gatiss). Everyone is panicking that if they lose control of their security and their weapons, they will be exposed to an attack from another country. A nuclear attack is imminent and paranoia is seeping in. However, despite the pleas of the others to turn him in, President Sloane is giving IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Oscar Nominee Tom Cruise) the time he needs to continue to carry out the “Dead Reckoning” mission, locate the sunken submarine known as Sebastopol, recover the Entity's source code and bring it back to the U.S. so they can control it. Ethan, however, has no desire to allow anyone to control the Entity, especially if it falls into the hands of Gabriel (Esai Morales). Hunt's mission will take him from the bottom of the Bering Sea to the lands of South Africa and force him to rely on the sum of all his decisions in what is his most important mission to date.

Since Oscar Winner Christopher McQuarrie took the reins of the franchise in 2015, his involvement has been tied to a good web of well-executed/functional action in the plot, a fair development for the supporting characters by not leaving them around Cruise, each mission represents a risk that generates enough adrenaline for the viewer to throw the pop corn basket from the shock of seeing Ethan Hunt doing the thousand and one stunts.

After the wonderful result of “Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One” (2023), Paramount delayed its theatrical release because the film didn't gross what they expected after being released right in the middle of ‘Barbie’ (2023) and “Oppenheimer” (2023). then McQuarrie and his team had just enough time to make the necessary adjustments to the work or add new shots.... What went wrong?

Well, McQuarrie and his co-writer felt the need to give a definitive closure to Hunt's career and for a good part of the film they spend a lot of time explaining and over explaining again and again and again what we are supposed to know that the famous entity represents and its dangerous scope. And not only that, this time the secondary characters look clumsy both in development and in their speeches, coupled with the unnecessary introspection to the entire filmic journey of the saga from 1996 to date. Subplots evoking nostalgia are the last thing a film of this caliber needs. Even the way it criticizes the excessive use of the Internet is forced.

After several soporific minutes, it's time to speed things up and its two action centerpieces (the submarine and the aerial chase) will at least make you think that you didn't throw your money down the drain by paying to see this parody of what was supposed to be one of Hollywood's solid film sagas revitalized after the passing of Oscar winner Brad Bird. It is here, in these couple of moments where the sound, the editing, the subtle visual effects work like a Swiss watch; perfectly.

“Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning” (2025) fails as a farewell, it fails as a solid action piece that in its previous one was a spectacular closing, it is the proof that neither Cruise's charisma nor McQuarrie's pen are infallible; they accepted the mission, they took the risk, they avoided the dangers but in the end the price to pay will be very expensive: oblivion; Disney's “Lilo & Stitch” (2025) will kick both their asses at the box office.

RATING FOR “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE THE FINAL RECKONING” (2025): REGELMÄSSIG

★★