“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” attempts to wrap up nearly three decades of high-stakes, globe-trotting espionage with a story that promises to be as ambitious as it is thrilling. In reality, it feels like the filmmakers tried to bite off more than they could chew, sacrificing the tight focus and engaging character dynamics that made the earlier films in the franchise so compelling. What we’re left with is a film that feels more like an exquisite corpse—an overstuffed and self-indulgent narrative that is stunning to behold in parts but never truly comes together as a satisfying whole.
Tom Cruise on the set of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.
For a movie that’s supposed to be Ethan Hunt’s (Tom Cruise) final mission, “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” spends far too much time bogged down in complicated plot points, convoluted expositions, and meandering subplots. The franchise has always thrived on its ability to deliver heart-pounding action and intricate espionage, but here, the balance between those elements and the weighty thematic ambitions of the film is completely off-kilter.
At its core, the film presents a familiar premise: Ethan is asked to go rogue (again), this time to stop a malevolent AI called The Entity, which threatens to disrupt global systems, collapse governments, and start nuclear war. The premise has the potential to explore urgent modern fears about technology’s growing control over our lives, but instead of a high-concept thriller, we get a sprawling, often incoherent narrative about a villain that never fully materializes into something we can grasp.
The film picks up where “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning” left off, with Ethan still holding the coveted key that might allow him to control The Entity. But this time, he’s not just up against the AI; he’s also at odds with Gabriel (Esai Morales), a cold-blooded assassin who wants to harness the power of the Entity for his own ends. It’s a race against time as Ethan must outwit these enemies and stop a world-ending threat, all while navigating a political landscape that insists The Entity be kept alive for the “greater good.”
The film’s opening moments feel like a farewell: a dignified American president (Angela Bassett) urging Ethan to accept one last mission to save the world. It’s a solemn setup, one that teases an emotional and thoughtful conclusion to Ethan’s story. However, as the film progresses, it’s clear that Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning struggles to deliver on that promise. While the premise is big, the execution is clumsy, and the movie’s thematic ambitions—centering on the nature of power, control, and morality in the digital age—get lost in a haze of confusing plot twists and over-the-top action sequences.
One of the major issues with the film is the sheer amount of exposition that clutters the narrative. From lengthy war room discussions to overly detailed explanations about how The Entity works, the movie constantly bogs itself down with too much information that’s not actually serving the story. We’re told over and over again that the AI is dangerous, that it could destroy the world, but the film never fully explains how or why. McQuarrie and Jendresen seem more interested in creating a sense of mystique around the AI than making it a tangible, comprehensible threat. The Entity itself, as a villain, becomes little more than a metaphor for technological dystopia rather than an actual antagonist with clear motivations or limits. It’s hard to feel the stakes when the film constantly shifts the rules of what the Entity can and cannot do, leaving the audience with little sense of what’s actually at risk.
The script’s lack of clarity about the AI’s power and purpose turns what could have been an intelligent sci-fi thriller into more of a fantasy adventure. The Entity feels less like a believable antagonist and more like an evil spirit—its influence is everywhere, but we never truly understand the mechanisms behind it. At one point, the film even introduces a doomsday cult that worships the Entity, which feels like an entirely separate film grafted onto this one. The disjointed narrative constantly pulls us in different directions, and the result is a film that never really finds its footing.
While the stakes are high, the emotional weight of the film is lacking. Ethan’s journey throughout the series has always been defined by his relationships—whether it’s his bond with his team or his struggle to reconcile his sense of duty with his personal desires. In Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, these relationships take a backseat to the film’s bloated plot. Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell and Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn are both back, but their roles are sadly diminished. They’re reduced to simple plot devices, helping Ethan with his missions but having little time to develop beyond their respective personas of the loyal partner and the comic relief. It’s frustrating because, for all the talk about the importance of teamwork and camaraderie, the film does little to make us care about the characters who have been central to Ethan’s journey for so many years.
The return of Hayley Atwell as Grace—a pickpocket turned agent—is another misstep. Atwell brings energy and charisma to the role, but the script gives her very little to do beyond serve as a plot device and Ethan’s love interest. The arc that was teased for her in Dead Reckoning Part One is effectively abandoned here, as she becomes a worried, over-cautious figure whose dialogue often feels forced and out of character. Atwell’s Grace doesn’t feel like an active participant in the story; she feels like a placeholder, a character who’s there to move the plot along rather than contribute to it meaningfully. In the final act, her character undergoes a strange shift, suggesting that she might want Ethan to take control of the Entity and rule the world. It’s a jarring moment, and it highlights just how poorly developed her character is.
Pom Klementieff’s Paris fares a bit better in terms of character development, but her arc, too, feels undercooked. Klementieff gets a few memorable moments, including a fight sequence early in the film and a quieter, more tender moment later on, but her character is never given the depth she deserves. At times, she comes off as little more than an accessory to the action, a tough-as-nails henchwoman who switches sides without any real explanation. Her shift from antagonist to ally is swift and unconvincing, and by the end of the film, she’s another character who feels more like a narrative tool than a fully realized person.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment of all is the film’s wasted potential in its supporting cast. The film is loaded with great actors—Angela Bassett, Nick Offerman, Shea Whigham, Janet McTeer, and Hannah Waddingham—all of whom are underutilized in roles that amount to little more than exposition machines. The moments when the film slows down to have these characters talk about the global crisis at hand are dull, and the dialogue often feels like it’s trying too hard to sound profound. The characters themselves rarely have any room to breathe, and we never get to see them operate outside of these tense, jargon-filled scenes. It’s a shame, because each of these actors could have brought something special to the table if given the chance.
The one bright spot in the supporting cast is Tramell Tillman, whose portrayal of Captain Bledsoe, the smooth-talking submarine captain, is one of the few moments of genuine charm in the film. Tillman’s performance is magnetic; he brings an unexpected sense of warmth and charisma to a film that is otherwise weighed down by its seriousness. His presence is a breath of fresh air, and you almost wish the entire movie had been about him and his crew, rather than Ethan’s convoluted mission to stop an AI. Tillman has the ability to inject life into even the most mundane lines, and his chemistry with Kodiak (Katy O’Brian) is one of the few relationships in the film that feels authentic.
Ultimately, “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is a film at war with itself. It wants to be an epic conclusion to a beloved franchise, but it doesn’t have the courage to commit fully to either its action roots or its more contemplative themes. The action is spectacular, yes, with some truly jaw-dropping sequences, but it’s all buried beneath layers of unnecessary exposition and fun nostalgia is an exhausting watch, filled with too many half-baked ideas and too much dialogue that explains things we don’t care about.
7/10
