Shot back-to-back with Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning in two and a half years, Mission Impossible Final Reckoning has graced the audience with its release last week. With a 7.5-minute standing ovation at the Cannes film festival 2025, the high hopes for one of the highest-grossing movie franchises got even higher. Here is a breakdown of the pros and cons of the FAQs on everybody’s mind of the well-regarded Hollywood series known for its high action.
Premise:
The duo of actor Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie (and producers) are back again for one last time with the story of the crew of agents, where they save the world from not one but two nemeses: The Entity (an AI global threat) and Gabriel. Cruise as Ethan. Has to find the original source code of the said technology in a sunken Russian stealth submarine, Sevastopol, picking the story up from Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning.
What Works
The Story
While we have seen Ethan Hunt fight and ultimately win over many human antagonists in this nearly 30-year-old franchise, the plot of The Entity, a rogue self-aware artificial intelligence (AI) introduced and carried in MI7 and 8, is quite unique.
With the name of A.I. on everybody’s lips everywhere in the world, it’s quite interesting to see a big franchise target it as its villain. I mean, it’s something that may really become a threat in the future, and the way it’s shown alongside the strong background and CGI is stellar without coming off as childish.
The Actors And The Characters
Tom Cruise has been a Hollywood A-lister for decades and decades; he’s carried this series alone since 1996. Of course, he can act and act well. But while he stays on as the main star and producer of these cinematic pieces, the other actors/characters who help him accomplish the task do get changed. But, since the 2025 release is a direct sequel, we get similar actors.
And after the first half, we do get to see the majority of actors returning from MI 7, including Simon Pegg as the ever humorous but just as efficient Benji Dunn, Hayley Atwell as Grace, Pom Klementieff as the deadly assassin Paris, and more, which made a fine team to kill the bad guys. I could definitely imagine them going on another mission, as they balanced the group so well.
One of the things that made me the happiest during the Mission Impossible Final Reckoning screening was to see an active woman of color (Angela Bassett) as the President of a powerful nation. If we don’t see it in real life, fiction is as close as we can get to it.
The Music
Oh, how long the first half is stretched; I cannot imagine those scenes without the score provided by Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey. Lorne Balfe did not return for Mission Impossible 8, but the new duo does the job well. If not for them, none of the scenes would’ve looked that powerful.
The Cinematography
You can expect the best of the best visually aesthetic shots from the big-budget Hollywood movies, and we do receive it in this flick as well. The direction and the cinematography by Fraser Taggart for the underwater aerial sequence are the best and require a special mention.
What Doesn’t Work:
The Screenplay
As much as I like and understand the story (basically the plot of the movie), the first hour is quite slow because of the newer direction of slow shots, lack of dialogue in the first half, and action sequences and humor that’s funny but mild. The screenplay needed to have a tighter grip.
The Action Sequence…
This one really breaks my heart to point out because whether it be Mission Impossible Final Reckoning or any other movie from the hit franchise, fans are essentially going to see the skillfully constructed action sequence that really just can’t happen in real life.
And even though there are two big sequences, apart from the underwater scene, I found one of the two rides quite high on the suspension of disbelief. In the climax, there’s such a good background and storyline provided by all the characters, and what do we get from the action sequence between the main hero and villain? Two powerful people fighting on a biplane that, while I could see, would’ve been so hard to shoot, frankly, made me chuckle at a point.
(Though I have to point out again, one out of the two central action scenes, i.e, the underwater sequence, has probably become one of my favourites ever.)
FAQs
Before concluding the Mission Impossible Final Reckoning review, here are the answers to some of the most popular questions that fans have been searching for about the trending movie:
Q. Is there a Mission Impossible Final Reckoning post credit scene?
No, there is no mid-credit or post credit scene in Mission Impossible 8. This is possibly due to the fact that these scenes typically give fans a sense of hope for the next part in a movie series, but since this is indeed the last we see of Ethan Hunt and the crew…
Q. What is Mission Impossible Final Reckoning run time?
Mission Impossible Final Reckoning run time is 2 hours and 45 minutes. This is the lengthiest movie out of all the parts.
To End
Am I going to miss the pulse-pounding, visually stunning, and globetrotting MI series that started in 1996? Yes. Yes, I am. But did it impact my judgment? No. In one line, if I could describe the experience, it would be: The first half is slow and filled with expositions, and the second half is thrilling and filled with action our mind desires.
If you noticed I didn’t put Direction by Christopher McQuarrie in either the good or the bad slot, it’s due to this only reason: the first half builds up the tension so much that it looks like it’s been directed by someone else, and the other half is so fast that it visualizes the movie differently. So, what I would’ve appreciated would’ve been a sprinkle of memories and action throughout the nearly three-hour film, not in dedicated time slots.
At last, Mission Impossible Final Reckoning is the last movie in the series that I would recommend to the audience, and essentially the fans of the series, to watch Cruise as Agent Hunt in this well-established spy thriller drama for one last time.
The views in this Mission Impossible Final Reckoning Review are all my own. Everyone’s tastes are different, subjective, and I appreciate that we can all gracefully represent our views.
