“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”: Imperfect, Impressive, Impossible

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Christopher McQuarrie, 2025) 4 out of 5 stars

Ethan Hunt has been saving the world for the last thirty years. From the cobblestoned streets of Prague to the icy reaches of the Arctic, the ever dependable and dependably good Hunt and his IMF team have left a lasting mark on the action genre. Over that time, the franchise has passed through a vast array of creative hands, ultimately finding its most familiar identity with the arrival of director Christopher McQuarrie. While the series hasn’t always taken the kind of bold risks Hunt himself would, its filmmaking consistently reaches for a bygone era of blockbuster cinema. And this dedication to making a product as good or even better than its early films, more often than not sticks the landing.

Now, we arrive at the series’ apparent conclusion. Hunt and his team once again race against the clock to save the world as the all-powerful AI known as “The Entity” threatens to turn humanity’s nuclear power on itself. While it may not be the strongest entry overall, multiple sequences vie to rank amongst the genre’s most astounding. And it serves as a heartfelt and worthy goodbye to a series that has not only endured in, but elevated, action cinema.

That said, the movie faces its own challenges, many of which are unsurprising in a story that is the second part to a complex narrative and the final part to an even greater one. Unsurprisingly—but still disappointing—it is bogged down by an exposition-heavy opening that is unable to find a more efficient way to explain its abstract primary villain other than through dialogue. This first hour also feels over-edited, and the many cuts disrupt both dramatic tension and comic relief. 

But these doubts quickly subside once the plot gets on its way, and the rest is pretty close to perfection. The entire section in the Arctic, for example, is totally enrapturing. The craftsmanship of these sets, with their large scale and minute detail, create a tactile realism that just about sells the impossible script. Other impressive moments, such as the outdoor plane chase, further defy the element of artifice with the use of real locations and the famously daring performance of Tom Cruise, who brings these spaces alive.

He’s supported by a familiar and welcome team. Though the film is also heavy on the characters, I still personally missed the unique presence of Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa. Yet, the fan-favorite set of Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames, along with the newer additions of Haley Atwell and Pom Klementieff, are likable enough to make up for it. And even the numerous secondary characters are given moments of notable humanity. Their kindness towards Ethan reflects one of the film’s most resonant themes: the importance of striving for the greater good, even when the rewards may be for total strangers.

These themes feel refreshingly simple, and it has an almost feel-good optimism that leaves the series with a sense of hope. While it may not feel as fun as its predecessors, its seriousness adds weight to the stakes at hand, making the threat feel genuinely dire for a group that has had their fair share of doomsday devices. There’s also a fitting sense of finality throughout, an awareness that this might be the last time we see these characters on this stage.

We may not fully realize just how much the Mission: Impossible series has meant to the genre until it’s truly gone. But for now, it bows out with dignity, daring, and a whole lot of heart. Mission accomplished.

Hannah Tran

Hannah Tran is a filmmaker, writer, and friendly neighborhood barista from Las Vegas. She graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Film and English and is currently working on her first feature film. In her spare time, she can be found attending film festivals, running a local book club, and, of course, devouring as many movies as possible.