‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ Review: Stunt Filmmaking At Its Peak

I’ve long considered Tom Cruise to be one of the most dedicated human beings on the planet. Despite being an actor, someone who simply pretends to be someone else, Cruise has gone to insane lengths to perfect his performances, learning how to skydive, parachute from motorcycles, cling to the side of a plane, fly jets, and jump from building to building. Not only is the man dedicated to the physicality of his roles, but hes also dedicated to the art of filmmaking and moviegoing, being a huge supporter of the industry from day one. If Tom Cruise is involved, you know he will try his damn near best to perfect it. Read our Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning review

Cruise created the first Mission: Impossible film back in 1996 with legendary director Brian de Palma. Since then, Mission: Impossible has gone through many fantastic directors and many movies of varying quality. Now, the franchises supposed final reckoning is upon us with Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

The Final Reckoning is a direct sequel to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, formerly subtitled Dead Reckoning Part One. That movie followed Ethan Hunt (Cruise) as he and his team (Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) track down an artificial intelligence in an attempt to stop the world from ending. The movie ended with Hunt obtaining the key to find the AI’s source code, having just defeated Gabriel (Esai Morales). The Final Reckoning picks up shortly after this, with Hunt now having to find the submarine that contains the source code and defeat The Entity once and for all. 

The movie is structured into three big acts, two of them being clearly defined by their action set pieces and the other by its lack thereof. But what really sets the first act apart from the others, is how bogged down it is by a heavy onslaught of exposition-filled monologues. When the film switched from Dead Reckoning Part Two, it seemed the script suffered heavily, with the film now forced full of exposition. By the end of the film, I could overlook this, but it was admittedly worrying when I first sat through the film. As soon as the second act hits, however, the film enters back into the familiar world of McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible — that is, peak.

When Mission: Impossible was revived by Brad Bird in 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the film and Tom Cruise began to focus on the stunts in the movies. In that one, Cruise climbed the tallest building in the world. In Rogue Nation, he clung to a moving cargo plane. In Fallout, a HALO jump, and Dead Reckoning, he rides a motorbike off a mountain. Here, they go all out, with Cruise doing a dive stunt that involved him inhaling his own carbon dioxide whilst filming the second act of the film, and in the third, clinging to a moving bi-plane and then moving onto a second bi-plane. These two stunts alone are enough for me to declare Tom Cruise as the greatest movie star, and way more than enough for me to wish the Oscars debuted their stunt category this year instead of the next.

That second act is where the film truly clicks the film into gear, and whilst the film’s side characters do not get enough to do despite its nearly 3-hour runtime, I was never bored for a second, through my two theatrical viewings. 

The script is by far the biggest offender in the movie, and I can see the start putting more cynical minded individuals in an irritated state for the course of the movie, but for those going to the film for the stunts, like myself, then you will have the best of times. It is insane how Cruise and McQuarrie have managed to one up the last film with these stunts, delivering cleverly and impressively choreographed stunts that will make your heart stop in theatres. In combination with the sound design and production design, the film urges you as an audience member to watch it on the biggest screen possible.

Steven Spielberg once said Tom Cruise saved cinema. I believe this is more true now than ever.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is directed by Christopher McQuarrie and stars Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Greg Tarzan Davis, Shea Whigham, Rolf Saxon, Tramell Tillman, Hannah Waddingham, Nick Offerman, Janet McTeer, Holt McCallany, Katy O’Brian, and Angela Bassett.

Catch Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning in theatres worldwide.

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