In the tight confines of a submarine, Ethan Hunt finds himself faced with one of several challenges he must overcome on his latest covert assignment. No weapons in sight and clad only in the boxers he was exercising in; he must disarm a knife wielding assailant that has been radicalized by the artificial intelligence program known as The Entity. Taking down the would-be assaulter, Hunt exclaims that the misguided man has spent far too much time on the internet.
The scene is meant to provide a moment of amusement within Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the latest and possibly final instalment in the franchise, but the joke falls flat. Part of the reason is that, for large chunks of the film, the social message feels at odds with the flashy entertainment packaging it is contained in. This is an issue that plagues Christopher McQuarrie’s film, The Final Reckoning has many thoughts on a world that is growing increasingly angry and divided but has no real interest in exploring the kindling that fuels this raging fire.
For all its talk about togetherness and breaking free from the clutches of the misinformation peddling landscape of the online world, the film has very little connection to the people its heroes are trying to save. Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his Impossible Mission Force (IMF) team have always functioned in the shadows. They constantly put their lives on the line for those who don’t even know they exist.
After close to 30 years of watching Hunt willingly sacrifice everything, except for his loyal team, the only group of people he can unwaveringly trust, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning finds itself at a crossroads. On one hand it wants to give fans a grand spectacle that that takes viewers down memory lane while simultaneously recontextualizing the past to fit into the present. The other side of the coin is a film that desperately wants to have something meaningful to say and not just be remembered for its stunning stunt sequences.
In wanting to be many things all at once, McQuarrie’s film feels cluttered and soulless. A work that in its best moments captures the thrills fans have come to expect and at its worse delivers platitudes that feel ripped from motivational bumper stickers.
Picking up a couple of months after the events of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, The Final Reckoning finds Hunt, Grace (Hayley Atwell), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) attempting to use old school methods to locate and stop The Entity. Taking over the internet, spreading misinformation, and infiltrating nuclear systems across the globe, The Entity plans to bring society to the brink in three days. While world leaders such as the President of the United States, Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett), contemplate whether to initiate nuclear warfare as a proactive measure, others are plotting ways to get the troublesome, but powerful, AI tool under their own control.
One individual who sees value in having The Entity reshape the world into his image is Gabriel (Esai Morales), a former disciple of the AI program and Hunt’s old foe. Of course, for his plan to work, he will need to manipulate Hunt into doing his bidding to secure a key device that is located on a submerged Russian submarine.
Although the Mission: Impossible films have presented themselves as a team-based adventure, it is Hunt who is often left to do most of the daring actions required to pull off their missions. While the character’s death-defying stunts have become the hallmark of the franchise, The Final Reckoning’s moments of spectacle cannot overcome the central problem of the film, The Entity itself.
Presented as a magical AI tool, one that can predict and visualize a person’s future, but cannot speak for itself outside of a special human size box, The Entity is simply not a compelling villain. The fact that The Entity remains predominantly voiceless, literally and figuratively, for a bulk of the second half of the film is telling. McQuarrie’s film relies heavily on character exposition to explain every plan and every possible countermove the AI might make.
Furthermore, The Final Reckoning wants to draw parallels to our current times but has little interest in showing viewers the world the AI has corrupted. There are offhanded remarks about growing religious zealots, individuals infiltrating politics and law enforcement, but it carries no real weight. The individuals most swayed by The Entity’s manipulations are nameless characters who the audience has no attachment to. It is also hard to buy into the stakes at play when even the U.S. government would rather engage in nuclear war than risk shutting down the internet.
This sense of disconnect is also found in the various bonds, both existing and new, that are touched on in the film. For example, a key death scene that should be dripping with emotions come off as hollow as Hunt is not given anytime to reflect or mourn.
Everything moves forward at a clip that leaves the viewer feeling distant from the unfolding events. There are reveals that tie back to the original films, tense political discussions about pushing the nuclear option, and even stories from random side characters about grave losses that came from not making a bold decision, and yet all of it feels unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. Just a series of bloated diversions to pacify the viewer until the next stunt sequence occurs.
While the stunts are indeed eye-catching, including a sensational extended aerial sequence pulled off by Cruise, they do little to make one forget about the film’s numerous shortcomings. Once one of the standard bearers for modern action films, it is the overstuffed and lackluster nature of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning that ultimately self-destructs.
