Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is the eighth, and supposedly final, entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the film stars Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Tramell Tillman, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, and Katy O’Brian. Ethan Hunt and the IMF team continue their search for the terrifying AI known as the Entity – which has infiltrated intelligence all over the globe – with the world’s governments and a mysterious ghost from Ethan’s past on their trail. Joined by new allies and armed with the means to shut the Entity down for good, Hunt is in a race against time to prevent the world as we know it from changing forever.

The Final Reckoning was easily one of my most anticipated movies of the year. I grew up on the films and love the franchise as you can see from me revisiting the franchise up to this one over the last week. There was a lot of anticipation from fans alike. Between a lower than usual Rotten Tomatoes score and talks about how slow the first hour was, I think I tempered my expectations a bit. Since I saw this last night, there were already plenty of other people who saw this weeks in advance. Hearing their opinions was insightful, but the negative ones definitely made me cautious. I’m happy to report that this is a solid entry that ends on a great note should this be the last entry.

From the more negatives I read, I was worried about the film’s first hour. Many reported that it was filled with flashbacks, flashforwards, and expositions; however, there is still action and intensity throughout. The first hour may not be as action packed as I think others were hoping for, especially for a finale, but it is still intense nonetheless. I may be in the minority here, but I love when the franchise leans into the dialogue. While many may already recognize how much the stakes have been raised, the dialogue helps ground you in the realism, making everything feel even more threatening.

I’ll go ahead and get what I didn’t like out of the way, which is only a part of the first hour of the film are the flashbacks and the huge cast. The flashbacks can be quite repetitive. It works if you haven’t seen a single entry, then I can see where it can help. As someone who just saw every entry again, I already remembered everything. Even if you didn’t do what I did, we literally saw what happened in the last movie two years ago. We didn’t need flashbacks for that.

I am also frustrated with how stacked of a cast is knowing how large the budget is. Not a single Mission: Impossible movie has ever broke $1 billion. This one would need to break a $1 billion to be successful. As much as I hope this is the final entry, I am worried that big action films like this will never be made again. As much as I like the cast, it doesn’t always feel like the film knows how to properly utilize its full cast to justify it needing to cost as much. I understand the cast doesn’t fully speak for the budget, but if the film cut out some characters, it could help with the pacing and budget in the film’s first hour.

Even with such a large ensemble, the film gets Ethan’s team down right. I love how the film continues to help them stand out. There is even one surprising addition that is fitting considering what happened in the prior film. What I love about Tom Cruise’s work as a producer is his acknowledgement that Hollywood needs to continue after him. He gives the younger talent the opportunity to showcase their talents and prove that there are other talents out there that can help deliver an exciting popcorn blockbuster.

As the longest runtime in the franchise, you get the feeling that it is long, but I was never once bored. My friend and I didn’t get out until 10:30. As people who have big boy jobs, staying out that late for a movie isn’t always that ideal. This was worth it. There are two big action sequences that will have everyone talking. You’ll know what scenes they are when they see them. The trailers have been pushing these sequences, but the film goes even bigger than you could ever imagine. One sequence felt like a horror sequence while the other had my heart racing and palms sweaty. This is high intensity action at its finest that needs to be seen in the theater.

If the franchise ends here, I don’t know how much better it can get from here. While I still believe Fallout could have been the finale when the franchise was at its peak, this two-part story feels justified. With the emotional stakes at hand, I don’t know how much bigger and better you can go. Christopher McQuarrie loves to emotionally challenge Ethan and gives him more to deal with in this film. I think in anyone else’s hands, it wouldn’t be as good. As someone who loved this franchise as a kid, I felt like the film spoke to my journey as a fan over the last few decades.

Thematically, there is something rich with Ethan’s character that I haven’t gotten before. We know Ethan will sacrifice himself for the greater good, but there’s something fundamental about the way he is presented here. He knows he will rescue millions of people that he will never meet. That’s part of the job. As someone in their 30’s now, there’s something special about the way the film shows how you can keep going and don’t ever give up. Just when you think you can’t keep going forward, Ethan Hunt is a great example to not give up.

The film works perfectly as a finale when it goes back to prior entries and ties up loose ends. Others may prefer something more straight forward. To me, I have wanted answers to questions. I got that, plus a few other answers that truly surprised me. There is a strangle little plot convivence that connects back to the first one that did question why and how that happened. I will take it though for nostalgic sake. For a film that leans heavily into dialogue in the first half that helps connect to the overall franchise, it’s impressive how the film can still deliver two of the best action sequences in the franchise between its impeccable sound design, immersive camera work, and intense score.

Overall, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a satisfying & fitting finale that delivers with breathtaking action sequences and its emotional stakes. If, by some miracle, the franchise continues, I hope they can manage to stick another conclusion. There are some critiques within the first half; however, there is no denying the action sequences deliver a 5/5 experience.

VERDICT: 4.5/5 (Amazing)