Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

“Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” picks up almost immediately after the events of the previous film, “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning” (2023). When we last saw Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team, they were faced with the daunting task of outwitting an advanced AI (lamely named “The Entity”). Now, to prevent a nuclear holocaust, Ethan must use a cruciform key, an object he acquired in the previous movie, to unlock a computer drive containing the source code that can destroy The Entity.

Acting as The Entity’s liaison is Gabriel (Esai Morales), an assassin who tries his best (but fails miserably) to be a top-tier villain. Gabriel always seems to be several steps ahead of Ethan and his team, which is no surprise since he’s receiving instructions from The Entity. So the question becomes, will Ethan’s plan to do the exact opposite of what The Entity expects actually work? And, to add a ticking time bomb element to the plot, Ethan’s team must figure out how to stop the AI before it hacks into every nation’s nuclear arsenal and obliterates the planet.

Sound like an impossible task?

Don’t sweat it.

Even though it takes Ethan and his team nearly three hours to complete their mission (it only took 2 hours for them to save the world in the first film), doomsday is averted and life goes on as if nothing happened; which is ironic, since after watching this film, your life will go on as if nothing happened too.

That isn’t to disparage the movie’s two protracted, well-crafted action sequences—one takes place in the depths of the ocean and the other occurs high in the sky—but the balance of the film is a retread of earlier “Missions.” Indeed, a couple of the movie’s montages recycle clips from previous films; one dispenses brief images to refresh the audience’s memory and another is used to produce feelings of nostalgia.

In an attempt at bringing the series full circle, the story hearkens back to a few key characters and objects from the earlier movies. For starters, CIA analyst William Donloe (Rolf Saxon)—viewers will remember him as the poor fellow who took several trips to the bathroom while Ethan made his pulse-pounding descent into the computer room on wires in the first film—has a significant role in this movie. Also, U.S. Intelligence agent, Jim Phelps Jr. (Shea Whigham), is the son of Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), the villain Ethan bested in “Mission: Impossible” (1996). Another allusion to the OG movie is the NOC list; the item multiple parties vied to possess.

“Mission: Impossible III” (2006) gets some love with a mention of villain Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), montage clips of Ethan’s wife Julia (Michelle Monaghan) and a reference to that film’s destructive MacGuffin… the Rabbit’s Foot.

There are also many similarities between “Dead Reckoning” and “The Final Reckoning” since the films are a continuous, 2-part adventure. Many actors have reprised their roles in “The Final Reckoning” including: Morales as villain Gabriel, Hayley Atwell as uber-thief Grace, Pom Klementieff as the aptly named French assassin Paris, Angela Bassett as President Erika Sloane, Henry Czerny as CIA director Eugene Kittridge, along with many others.

Also returning for this film is director Christopher McQuarrie. McQuarrie excels at realizing the movie’s action sequences, but struggles to sustain viewer interest during slower, talky scenes. To break up the monotony, the director employs various storytelling strategies, including montages and flash forwards (a technique used in heist films like “Ocean’s Eleven” or action films like “Avengers: Endgame” to depict what the characters will do when they carry out the intricate capers being discussed during the long-winded planning session). Unfortunately, these gimmicky attempts at punching up the action, along with the overly dramatic music by composers Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey, makes the scenes play out like those on a typical TV procedural. McQuarrie’s most annoying directorial choice is his fixation on the “poison pill”—he cuts to closeups of the flash drive countless times, especially during the biplane scene.

Writers McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen have churned out a story that never quite takes off. There are some decent story elements here—both new and rehashed—but there’s an apparent abandonment of character development since the writers assume the audience already knows the IMF team by now. The series’ tropes are so well-established they’ve become hackneyed; and yet, the writers do little to divest themselves of these expected elements (i.e., the ole latex mask gag) or predictable patterns (i.e., defeating the enemy with milliseconds to spare). And the dialog they’ve written, especially the voiceover narrations for Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell, is rife with stilted speech and fortune cookie platitudes. Examples: “Our lives are the sum of our choices,” and, “Those we never meet.” President Sloane says Ethan is “the best of men in the worst of times.” Okay, that one’s kind of cool.

As the star of the show, the success of the “Mission” movies lands squarely on the shoulders of Cruise, who always rises to the occasion, regardless of what the writers and directors throw at him. The 62-year-old actor is in amazing shape (as evidenced by the treadmill scene) and still does his own stunts. Though some throw shade on Cruise’s skill as an actor, no one can question his dedication to the craft. And if they do, I dare them to dangle from an upside-down plane with only a seatbelt to hold onto like he does in this movie.

The main theme of “The Final Reckoning” is the same as in the previous film: fear of AI and its destructive potential. In an effort to avoid the attention of The Entity, global intelligence agencies unplug and go dark. Ethan receives his mission briefing on an old VHS tape. Gabriel flies a vintage biplane, which can’t be controlled by The Entity. This reversion to analog over digital is reminiscent of the “Battlestar Galactica” reboot (2004), when survivors of the Cylon onslaught use older, non-hackable Colonial Vipers to repel enemy forces.

The globe-trotting story was shot in Norway, South Africa and London. As with the other “Mission” films, the production elements in “The Final Reckoning” are superb, especially during the major set piece action scenes.

Objectionable Material

OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE/VULGARITIES: For an action flick, there’s a surprising dearth of profanities here. The movie’s vulgar words include: *ss (1), sh*t (1), b*tch (2), b*st*rd (1) and d*ckh**d (1). It also contains some mildly irreverent speech, such as: “For G*d’s sake,” “G*d knows when,” “Thank G*d,” and D*mn (1), H*ll (3).

NUDITY AND SEXUAL CONTENT: There’s no sex or nudity in the movie. However, Ethan and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) are shown with their shirts off. Also, Ethan runs on a treadmill in nothing but his underwear in one scene. Later, he swims through icy waters in just his underwear. Grace wears a tank top that reveals her cleavage. Grace kisses Ethan, but then we realize she’s giving him CPR. There’s a passing reference to “home movies,” which could refer to sex tapes.

VIOLENCE AND GRAPHIC CONTENT: The movie features several shootouts and hand to hand combat scenes. Amazingly, the body count is fairly low for an action movie; very little blood is shown and much of the violence takes place off screen.

One of these scenes is when Ethan bludgeons an opponent with a meat cleaver—the cracking, splattering sounds are quite graphic. When Ethan reappears onscreen, his white dress shirt is stained with blotches of blood. Grace hits an assailant with a gun. During a knife fight, Ethan puts a stranglehold on his opponent and violently kicks him in the side of the head several times. Inside a buried submarine, we see the rotting corpses of two crewmen.

There’s a massive shootout in a cavern near the end of the film—though there are a number of casualties, the scene isn’t overly bloody. A man falls out of the cockpit of a plane and his face smashes against the tail rudder, which produces a large gush of blood. A woman cuts into a man’s chest with a knife to perform life-saving surgery. Images of nuclear bombs annihilating cities and continents may be distressing to viewers.

ALCOHOL/DRUGS: A woman is seen drinking alcohol from a flask in several scenes. She hands the flask to a man who takes a swig to help kill the pain in preparation for a surgery. Several people drink alcoholic beverages at a posh party.

Spiritual Aspects

As with most action movies, there isn’t much to evaluate here from a spiritual perspective. Let’s begin with the low-hanging fruit provided by the movie’s main theme.

Fear

Harboring fear that a machine like The Entity will take over and destroy the planet may be reasonable in light of recent advances in AI. However, we need to remember that God is in control and that nothing happens outside his knowledge or approval. Regardless of what happens to our physical bodies, those who become saved through Jesus Christ will have eternal life (John 3:16). Though it’s easy to give in to fear when we see terrible things happening around the world, or in our own community, we must place our faith in our Heavenly Father to take care of us.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” —2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

Revenge vs. Forgiveness

There are two meaningful scenes where Ethan makes amends with those he’s hurt in the past. When Ethan apologizes for ruining Donloe’s career, the CIA analyst, who was reassigned to an arctic outpost after Ethan hacked into the database on his watch, forgives Ethan without hesitation. Not only did the demotion rescue Donloe from a career spent in mindless tedium, it changed the trajectory of his life when he met his wife. Donloe returns the knife Ethan accidentally dropped onto his workstation decades earlier, effectively burying the hatchet between them.

The other individual Ethan hurt, though indirectly, was Jim Phelps Jr., who could be angry that Ethan’s actions lead to the death of his father, but his motivation isn’t revenge. When Ethan extends his hand to propose a truce, Phelps transfers the gun from one hand to the other and shakes Ethan’s hand in a gesture of forgiveness. This is an inspiring example of Jesus’ admonition, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37).

Purpose

With seconds ticking down on a bomb, Luther tells Ethan, “This is what I was born to do.” As we’ve seen throughout the movie series, Luther is a whiz with anything electronic. Working with his hands and his brain is his purpose.

When Jesus was questioned by Pilate in John 18:37, Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.” He took the penalty for our sins on Himself, revealed truth in a world of lies, proved who He truly is through a multitude of miracles and brought the beginning of the Kingdom of God to Earth.

Murder

Most modern action movies feature a multitude of murders. Though it’s easy to become desensitized to such slayings, and even justify them, since the hero is eliminating the “bad guys,” God detests such evil actions. As the Sixth Commandment (Exodus 20:13) clearly states, “You shall not murder.”

Religious Symbolism

One of the items that multiple parties seek to possess is the cruciform key, which is formed by sliding two keys together. The X-shaped key is a crucial part of Ethan’s plan to thwart the Entity’s destructive designs. The definition of cruciform is “a thing shaped like a cross.” Cruciform is a similar word to crucifixion. These words hold deep meaning for Christians since Jesus died on a Roman cross for the sins of the world (1 Peter 2:24).

There are also references to Catholic saints in the movie. At one point, Ethan is given a necklace with a St. Christopher pendant to protect him on his journey. Also, important events take place on St. Matthew Island.

The Biblical story of Noah and the ark (Genesis 6:9 – 9:17) is mentioned in casual conversation at one point. The term or concept of Armageddon (Revelation 16:16) is frequently broached in the film.

Though these are minor elements in the movie, it’s refreshing that “The Final Reckoning” at least makes an attempt at weaving religious themes and symbols into its narrative.

Final Thoughts

“The Final Reckoning” is a rote doomsday scenario that could’ve been transplanted from any other spy/thriller/action movie. It goes overboard with fan service and is a “Best Hits” pastiche of the earlier “Mission” movies. It’s a predictable, safe series capper that doesn’t deliver the kind of bang such a storied franchise deserved. Sadly, not even the exciting final 30 minutes can make up for the movie’s slow start and standard, cookie-cutter plot.

Still, “The Final Reckoning” is one of the cleanest action movies I’ve seen in recent years. And, I’d go back to the theater just to see the heart-stopping biplane confrontation—one of the most ingeniously storyboarded and executed action sequences I’ve ever had the pleasure of beholding.

Bruce Geller’s “Mission: Impossible” first aired on TV in 1966, and the first movie was released in 1996. Now, after 29 years and 8 films, Cruise’s movie mission has finally come to an end. But will the mission continue with other actors?

As we’ve learned from watching these movies, anything is possible.

• Violence: Heavy
• Vulgar/Crude language: Moderately Heavy
• Profane language: Mild
• Nudity: Mild
• Drugs/Alcohol: Mild
• Sex: None
• Occult: None

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.