REVIEW: Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning
“I need you to trust me, one last time.”
The words spoken from Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt were the perfect words. Not merely from a team leader to their crew, but from what has become a generational character to the cinematic craft and the movie theater audience.
Promotion. When done right, it can speak to even the most unfamiliar.
Nostalgia.
For the writer of this review, the adapted story of the Impossible Mission Force takes them back to adolescence. Renting the 1996 release from Hollywood Video, and awaking overnight with their mother in preparation for a medical test, the mission we chose to accept allowed us to broaden our cinematic horizons. A production of Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner, we trusted the direction of Brian De Palma, and it helped create memories that will live with both of us forever.
19 years later, I chose to accept a new mission. A mission that brought the story full-circle, tying in 29 years worth of material not for sentimental reasons or aforementioned nostalgic value, but constructive reasons in mannerisms the viewer welcomingly wouldn’t expect.
A final reckoning.
For 169 minutes, the viewer sits in their seat and feels the threat of one of the more menacing villains the arts have seen this generation.
The Entity.
With the syndicate being the IMF equivalence of what S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is to James Bond, the viewer hesitates in wondering how such an organization could be topped. How would Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen further adapt Bruce Geller’s creation into something that genuinely felt threatening? How would the duo create an antagonist not only realistic, but far from cartoonish? The creation and execution of the Entity allows the viewer to be fully invested. Unlike the novelization presentation that was ‘Dead Reckoning Part One,’ the duration of ‘The Final Reckoning’, finds the viewer immersed within this ensemble story in a genuine understanding of what’s at stake.
The viewer sees a direction of photography executed through mannerisms further assisting in bringing the story full circle. They witness camera shot callbacks done in just the right mannerisms at the right moments. Not done to the point of overbearance, even viewers unfamiliar with filmmaking could find appreciation through utilization, especially with an underwater sequence despite the moment’s length.
Other negative takeaways from ‘The Final Reckoning’ sight a moment of a figure in a shadow in an attempt to hide ADR, and a question of scene necessity involving the idea of potential polar bears and a gun. The latter questioning pacing purposes. A moment that, in all likelihood, could have been left on the cutting room floor.
Despite those flaws, a literal death-defying moment involving an airplane took my breath away! Brilliantly done, this was the type of moment that FINALLY caused the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to introduce Best Stunt Design at the Academy Awards. If the category were recognized for stunts in 2025, it would be difficult to see how such a moment would be topped.
Full Circle.
Thank you, Tom Cruise, for all you do, and all you continue to do for the cinematic craft. Your willingness to go above and beyond in being the best. Risking your life in the name of providing the cinematic audience, as with my Mom and I 19 years ago, moments that will live with us forever. As quoted in ‘The Final Reckoning’:
“Our lives are not defined by one action. Our lives are the sum of our choices.”
The choices Tom Cruise makes down to the t are why he will forever be known as one of cinema’s best. The mannerisms in which he has gone on to bring out the best in not only himself, but the cinematic craft as a whole should be studied by those looking to become such masters of the craft, whether in film school or otherwise.
That is why we trust Ethan Hunt to get the job done.
One last time.
4.75 on a scale of 5
(Thumbs Up)
That’ll do it for this episode! Thank you all for joining us! We have provided a link to several GoFundMe pages in support of those affected by the 2025 Wildfires in LA. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10gvOxituYvxxknoY9IQa-YEqfK8WvCjcLBcg4hsmME4/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0
