Reckoning with the Final Reckoning

At the end of 2023's Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Ethan Hunt promised to save us from the Entity and by extension Tom Cruise vowed to go to war with artificial intelligence. In the two years since, the looming threat of AI taking away our humanity is still present. Most news reports are about how AI could destroy or "disrupt" an industry or how it might take over the production of all art. While that is scary enough on its own, this is also how 2025's Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning gets the viewer to come to terms with the true power of its villain.

Christopher McQuarrie spends the first hour or so of this film exposing the potential weight of what the Entity could do to the world. It could create a nuclear war zone and brainwash millions into thinking it's all okay. It can grow, think, and anticipate every single move that any government body would make. It can control every facet of human life. In many cases, this would be an egregious case of a movie "telling" rather than "showing" and I can't knock anyone who thinks that is the case. What makes this stretch of the film so clever to me is that is reflects all the aforementioned warnings we are getting about AI in real life. If you actually engage with AI generated content, you know that it can't generate anything compelling. However, we are being told every day that it will steal every creative job and render artists of all kinds useless. We are in the "all bark" phase of the technology and The Final Reckoning makes it known.

In the first act of the movie, we get some staples of the franchise. There is a prison break to get a couple of new team members on board. There is a clever escape from certain torture that turns into a brawl. Most importantly, there is Tom Cruise running. The conventions start the break down when authority figures (like President Angela Bassett) start to believe in Ethan Hunt. When it seems like all hope is lost, the world is finally willing to except that he is the only man who can save us. This is a clear continuation of Dead Reckoning's metatexual narrative about the mythos of Tom Cruise. After the massive "Hollywood saving" success of Top Gun: Maverick, the suits had to take notice of Tom Cruise's superhuman ability to get people in theaters. Tom Cruise wrote the check and Ethan Hunt gets to cash it.

From there, the movie is off to the races. Tramell Tillman gets to absolutely steal the scene from Tom Cruise for a few glorious minutes before we see maybe the most interesting stunt of the film. Ethan is hundreds of feet under the sea attempting to get some doo-dad out of the sunken Russian submarine from the opening of Dead Reckoning. He is wearing a suit that can keep him alive for about 20 minutes and needs immediate de-pressurization once he gets back to the surface. The stakes are pretty high and the results are breathtaking. I am eagerly awaiting the behind the scenes of how all of this worked. I am almost convinced they found an actual sunken nuclear submarine to roll around inside of.

After the underwater shenanigans, the team has to head to South Africa for the culmination of the plot. Ethan and crew have found a split-second plan that will allow them to capture the entity before it can blow up half of the world. This leads Ethan down a path to Tom Cruise's craziest stunt yet in which he climbs around on two bi-planes that are actively flying. To call this moment epic is an understatement. It is a culmination of all the stunts we've been shocked by in the past. Cruise is free as a bird in a jungle gym of steel that could take him out at any moment. It looks like he had a blast doing it.

The film leaves us on an uncertain note. On the one hand its called "The Final Reckoning". On the other, Tom Cruise doesn't seem like he wants to slow down and the plot leaves one large door open for a possible continuation. I for one think it would be a fitting end for the franchise but I am also 100% down to watch more (if Cruise is involved).

Some stray thoughts about Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

• President Angela Bassett had a real group of guys as her advisors. When I say "guys" I mean a group of interesting actors who are known to steal scenes when needed. Henry Czerny, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Charles Parnell, and Mark Gatiss. Come on!
• This movie drove home the fact that Ethan Hunt can make any team work. There are people on this team who we've only known for 20 minutes who stand proud alongside Ethan. This has been one of his super powers for the whole series. Think about how much the group changes from Ghost Protocol to now. I'm not saying this is the best team in the franchise but it is a damn fine group.
• The most off-putting thing about the film is hearing Hannah Waddingham do an American accent. It is unnatural. I would have just preferred to believe that a British-American soldier made it so high in the ranks.
• I would LOVE to see the list of cities given to president Angela Bassett. Can you imagine the actuaries crunching those numbers? I just hope her final selection wasn't Atlanta.
• Of all the people to bring back to cement the franchise's legacy, diarrhea guy from the original is not what I would have guessed! I'm glad they gave him some work because he seemed to be having a blast!
• RIP to one of the legends of the series Luther. He was the most solid part of Ethan Hunt's life and if his demise wasn't surrounded in a world-ending plot I can only imagine how Ethan would have grieved.
• Tom Cruise did a really endearing popcorn press tour. He was eating two buckets per screening and playfully scolding people who finished the snack before the movie started. There is one nice video of him chatting with theater staff in front of a table of popcorn. What I love is how genuinely impressed he looks at his own airplane antics while talking about the stunts.