Write a commentAs a reviewer or "critic" if you will, it's important to remain consistent and honest with your audience.
It's just like any other social relationship. You have to have a solid foundation to build trust on and go from there. It's the equivalent of building a house on a lake of quicksand.
Considering all of this, I am not the right person to review "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning". Reviews are supposed to be objective. What worked, what didn't. Your emotions really shouldn't play a factor in whether or not a film is successful. Sure, most films target your heartstrings and no one is completely impervious to nostalgia. But, we're better than that. We can overcome.
Right?
Eh.
Full disclosure, I've been a massive fan of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise since its inception. My father was beside himself when the original film was announced back in 1996 and ensured our family went as a solid unit to support the film on opening night. And support it we did. Understood it, not so much. It's taken years to fully unknot the plot of that film. That could either mean I was an aggressively dumb 12, going on 13 year old or the film itself is pretty convoluted.
Then 2000 brought the sequel. Cruise, finally free of his Guinness World Record shoot on "Eyes Wide Shut", came back with both guns blazing. Gone was the labyrinthine plot of the original replaced with Metallica, slow motion gun battles and the most doves on screen since Hitchcock's "The Birds". Did it make sense? Did it have to?
It wasn't until 6 years later that Cruise teamed up with J.J. Abrams to bring us "Mission: Impossible III". Despite much of the fanfare, and a series best villain in Philip Seymour Hoffman's Owen Davian, "M:I III" was neither fish nor fowl. It was trying to be a spy film while also ramping up the action. Looking back on it, there are definitely some great sequences, but on the whole, it's pretty forgettable, save for the villain and Cruise's perfect sprinting posture.
Cruise's career hit kind of a hiccup around 2005. His interviews with Matt Lauer as well as Oprah gave his reputation a one, two punch it couldn't take. Hollywood's golden boy had quickly become tarnished due to his personal beliefs and enthusiasm over being in love. "Mission: Impossible III" severely underperformed at the box office and subsequent films over the next few years didn't have much of an impact. His most successful film out of that period was "Tropic Thunder" where he played a supporting role.
When news of "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" came about, many people had lowered expectations, including a series acolyte like myself. It wasn't released in the summer (as the previous three installments have) and it felt like the studio was dumping it in December. Or, perhaps they knew more than they were letting on. "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" was a bonafide hit, both financially and critically. It stands the test of time (almost 14 years later) as being not only (probably) the best of the franchise, but also one of the best action films of all time. The filmmakers just understood what had to be done in order for the film to be successful. The cast, old and new, fit into their respective roles with Cruise leading the pack.
This seems to be where the franchise took a turn. Sure, Cruise has always been kind of an intense guy, wanting ultimate control over his sets, but the sequence on the Burj Khalifa set him apart from the Jason Bournes and, yes, the James Bonds. It was a stunt sequence for the ages. Under Brad Bird's direction, the film took on an almost Looney Tunes tone with Cruise standing in for the Road Runner, narrowly and (seemingly) effortlessly dodging danger at every turn.
Since then, director Christopher McQuarrie took over the franchise. While being on the sidelines for many years, helping out with the scripts to many Cruise projects, "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" was McQuarrie's directorial introduction to the franchise. Gone were the cartoonish antics of the previous installment, replaced with sleek spy action. While nothing reached the heights (literal and figurative) "Ghost Protocol", it was a solid entry and head and shoulder above that year's James Bond entry, "Spectre". McQuarrie's surgeon-like precision for suspense sequences was on clear display.
In 2018, "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" was released. With McQuarrie still at the helm, Cruise and company logged yet another solid spy film in the books. With newcomer Henry Cavill, we saw a formidable adversary to Cruise's Hunt. One of the most fascinating things about this film (and this half of the franchise) is how McQuarrie focuses on Cruise's slight stature in comparison to Cavill. The fight choreography doesn't play it cheap. Cruise has to earn his victories against Cavill, leading to some of the most brutal and clever fight sequences of the franchise. They're not over edited and confusingly shot sequences of a Bourne film. This is clear. This is real.
A few more years passed and "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part I" was released. Cruise had recently come off the massive success of "Top Gun: Maverick", returning to the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. While the "Part I" of this entry's title seemed a bit daunting, the film was surprisingly light on its feet. Introducing us to new characters while checking in with the standbys, it was bound to be another hit in the massive franchise.
The big issue ended up being something called "Barbenheimer". Not too long after "Dead Reckoning" was released, "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" released on the same day, setting box office records. "Dead Reckoning" lost many of the IMAX screens it was on and the box office fell by the wayside. What should have been another success ended up being a rather sad footnote.
You're probably wondering why I decided to go through the entire franchise. The fact is, I probably could go on quite a bit longer about each of the films. Anyone that knows me knows that I have no shortage of comments regarding this franchise. The reason for my rambling is to provide context for "The Final Reckoning".
I get the feeling that Cruise and McQuarrie wanted to continue the "Mission: Impossible" franchise past part 8, but due to declining box office numbers and ballooning budgets, they probably made the executive decision to send Ethan Hunt off while he was still (nearly) on top.
I believe they succeeded.
For the most part, yes, I realize that much of the front third of the film has a lot of callbacks to previous entries in the franchise. Some of the flashbacks seem as though McQuarrie doesn't completely trust the audience to remember certain plot points thus leading to some of the filmmaking to have the subtlety of a sledgehammer. So, the critic in me thinks the beginning could have been done a lot more effectively and a lot more efficiently, not unlike Ethan Hunt himself.
But, man, once that first third is over, this thing flies. The plot isn't too dissimilar from previous entries: Hunt and his team need to stop a threat from The Entity as well as one of its fallen acolytes, Gabriel (Esai Morales). I had a professor in college that explained, "You should have just enough plot to hang your hat on." This adage has never been so true as with "The Final Reckoning". While the ins and outs of the plot bring us to all corners of the globe, it's how it's presented to us that makes all the difference.
Cruise's Hunt has become somewhat of a martyr, throwing himself at these problems for "the greater good". He never thinks of himself, putting his tems and the world at large ahead of his own personal safety. In a way, Cruise himself is doing this for the film industry. In the past couple of years since COVID shut things down worldwide, Cruise has become the preeminent proponent for theatrical exhibition. Having been in the industry for almost four and a half decades, Cruise has spent his career learning and improving. When you watch a film of his, especially recently, you're watching a spectacle.
But, it's not solely a spectacle. You're watching a film that an enormous amount of effort, skill and talent has gone into. You see Ethan Hunt hanging off the wing of that plane in the finale and you're in awe, not just because of what's on screen, but because you realize that Cruise is putting himself at great personal risk to entertain. When you hear the characters in the film talking about Hunt and all the things that he's sacrificed to keep the world running, you can't help but think the same with Cruise.
For sure this could be a martyr complex on Cruise's part. A man who has had wild success over the years and now he has to throw himself into the fray to "save the world". While I'm sure there's a healthy amount of ego involved with this, I don't see it as primarily that. Cruise is somewhat of an enigma personally. His relationships and his beliefs are always at the forefront of conversation, but when you listen to the man speak about filmmaking, you feel his enthusiasm. His unadulterated love for the art form he's dedicated his life to.
Given all that, "The Final Reckoning" takes on a new context. Hunt can't quit. He won't allow himself to. He's lost loved ones, a wife, team members and broken a few bones since 1996. Many of his colleagues think he's a rogue agent, few people give him the benefit of the doubt, but he's not in it for the glory. He's in it because he has to be. Because if not him, then who?
"The Final Reckoning" came out this past week to digital platforms. I believe it's well worth your time. From a completely pragmatic, critical standpoint, it could have been better paced. That first third is somewhat of a slog, but you never feel like you're in the hands of an incompetent filmmaker. It has great acting, action, production design, cinematography and an amazing musical score.
However, if you were to ask the 12, going on 13 year old that fell in love with this franchise nearly 30 years ago, he'd tell you it's amazing and the best movie of the year.
But, as I said, I'm the wrong person to be reviewing this.
Rating (out of ****): ****
