REVIEW: ‘Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning’ is a mostly earned victory lap

By morphing the series from episodic adventures to a cohesive, serialized format, some of the flimsiness of the characters and the story begins to show. Both Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning try to retcon Hunt’s backstory, giving him a dead love interest and an oath to the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) that he’s seemingly repaid many times over. The screenplay recontextualizes old plot elements, like the so-called Rabbit’s Foot from M:I 3, into this film, to apparently sweep us up into the feeling that we’ve been on a grand journey with the series for 29 years.

Film, New ReleasesRobert SnowMay 28, 2025mission impossible, the final reckoning, part two, espionage, action, review, tom cruise, hayley atwell, tramell tillman, 2025, christopher mcquarrieComment

REVIEW: The jaw-dropping 'Mission: Impossible - Fallout'

The film is very aware the story is not its strong suit; the entire plot is explained in the first 10 minutes in classic Mission: Impossible secret message fashion, and then promptly ushers you into an incredible two-hour escape. What’s most impressive is that it feels like there’s a legitimate mental and physical weight to the things Cruise is put through and that’s undeniably a part of his charm.

DISCLAIMER

ALL NAMES, TRADEMARKS AND IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.