Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning: An Imperfectly Proper Sendoff

Something about media franchise finales is hard to get right. How often have we seen remarkable middle acts followed by mediocre or even subpar conclusions? Star Wars is a rather obvious example. The Rise of Skywalker, the movie that was supposed to be a high note for arguably the most influential media franchise ever made, was a disappointingly off-key cacophony. A Good Day To Die Hard mercifully isn't discussed as much as the closing chapter of the Skywalker Saga, but it's also a real stinker of a conclusion. Jurassic Park III, though not a huge step down from the likewise dissatisfying Jurassic Park II, was still a bad movie that was ultimately only made possible by an all-time classic. And while Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is a movie that ever-so-obviously loves everything that made Mission Impossible a beloved franchise in the first place, it's still a largely acceptable finale when it could have and should have been a great one.

Mission Impossible isn't the type of tale to sit on its hands dawdling, and The Final Reckoning upholds this standard to a fault. The earlier parts of this movie are a convoluted and breakneck sprint through a confusing narrative maze, and The Final Reckoning often seems to be in a hurry to get somewhere at the cost of meditating on the journey in any meaningful way, though no one will say that it lacks ambition. This movie is doing its very best to feel like a properly big ending to something important, and I think its Part 2 nature will draw favorable comparisons to Avengers: Endgame. The Final Reckoning has no problems in the slightest with feeling heavy, and you'll understand the weight behind this movie, even if it doesn't always give that weight the time and consideration it deserves.

Still, bigger is not always better, and I don't like some of the heavier exposition dumps ever-so-prominently displayed for all to see. I understand that the your mission, should you choose to accept it... format is likely the definitive example of cinematic exposition, but it's almost as if The Final Reckoning has no other way of telling a story. Remember the Sevestapol, the submarine that fortuitously torpedoed itself in the previous installment of Mission Impossible? On top of infodump after infodump in the first third of The Final Reckoning, the father of all exposition dumps flops itself gracelessly on top of the Sevestapol and ever so conveniently yet oh-so-clumsily overturns many of the things we thought we knew about it so that Ethan and his motley crew of not-felons have something else to do. Convenient, am I right? Much of this movie feels as though it happens the way it does because it needs to, never entirely escaping a sense of being contrived.

Nevertheless, not only are the action and suspense setpieces of this movie insane in a way only Mission Impossible can be, but The Final Reckoning has no trouble at all putting the Impossible in Mission Impossible. Due to the deceptive machinations of the Entity, the rogue AI from Dead Reckoning that's methodically pitting the world against itself with a steady stream of false and incendiary information, our characters and the nations they represent walk a razor-thin wire. One wrong move or the misfortune of missing a right one could mean that the world explodes into all-out nuclear war, and it's a delicate situation buoyed by some truly mind-blowing sequences that will rightfully turn heads, the finest of them all being one such scene set on a sunken, derelict submarine rolling on the ocean floor with Ethan inside, a terrifying, claustrophobic, pulse-pounding centerpiece for a franchise built on spectacles of the type. Though imperfect, The Final Reckoning is supercharged with a cinematic trident of crazy setpieces, a welcome air of utmost sincerity and importance, and some seemingly unthinkable odds, just the way Ethan Hunt and the IMF like and even need it to be.

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is a celebration of everything that makes Mission Impossible a legendary franchise. And like a proper party, not everything about it is orderly. The Final Reckoning is no Fallout, and some of its moving parts have trouble organizing themselves into one cohesive cinematic machine. Nevertheless, the adrenaline release and emotional whallop of this movie are undeniable, and though not all of the pieces fit as they should, the puzzle has no trouble at all feeling like a proper finale should. Even though I know they'll probably reboot the franchise after a decade or even less, there's a surprising poignance to the goodbyes said in The Final Reckoning, because though they're ever-so-imperfect, they're also truly sincere.

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning - 7/10

2 Timothy 4:3-5