Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning - Review

Our Lives Are the Sum of Our Choices.

Review written by Jack Aling

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is directed and written by Christopher McQuarrie and co-written by Erik Jendresen.

Starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg & Esai Morales.

Ethan Hunt and team continue their search for the terrifying AI known as the Entity — which has infiltrated intelligence networks all over the globe — with the world’s governments and a mysterious ghost from Hunt’s past on their trail.

The road to The Final Reckoning seemed like an impossible mission in itself. COVID delays, writers' strikes and actors' strikes massively altered the path of this two-part finale(?) to one of cinema's most ambitious and long-standing series.

Almost three years after its original release date, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning continues to prove two things.

1 - This series will never find ways to outdo itself.

2 - Tom Cruise is absolutely insane.

As it attempts to stand on its own, while also dealing with the pivotal story beats of Dead Reckoning, this instalment suffers from inflated exposition, which dramatically slows down the first act as it course-corrects and catches the audience up through an overreliance on flashbacks.

But once the film gets the admin out of the way, it really gets going. A desperate chase to stop the entity lays the groundwork for two of the most impressive and death-defying sequences, which left me literally on the edge of my seat.

Tom Cruise uses his blank cheque for saving Hollywood to his advantage. Sure, there are way too many characters, and the plot is a touch overdramatic. But when the film is firing on all cylinders, it becomes a shining example of modern dedicated blockbuster filmmaking. When you boil it down, all we want to see is Ethan Hunt defy the impossible.

Our verdict: 4 out of 5 stars.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning arrives in UK Cinemas May 21st 2025

Read more of Jack's reviews at: letterboxd.com/TheJackAling