Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

Tom Cruise is at an age (he turns 63 later this year) when he can continue subverting his own image with some gravity-defying stunts and pushing himself to extremes. The hair is longer (and suits him) while the lines on his brow gradually seem to get deeper. He looks a tad like a boxer who just finished a few rounds with a global champ, but has a sense of his own immortality.

Audiences know that they simply must suspend disbelief and go with the roller-coaster ride without asking too many questions. So where we are at? The last instalment concluded with Cruise’s operative Ethan Hunt attempting to stop an artificial intelligence force called the Entity from destroying the Earth (what else?).

It’s certainly all very timely and apposite as the world is thrown into turmoil as the Entity sets its sights on global nuclear domination and possibly extinction. Hunt’s cohorts, among them Luther (Ving Rhames), Benji (Simon Pegg), Grace (Hayley Atwell), and Paris (Pom Klementieff), have their work cut out to assist him.

Meanwhile over at the White House Angela Bassett’s fiercesome American president throws her weight around for good measure.

This is the fourth in the series with director Christopher McQuarrie but that doesn’t stop him referencing previous incarnations with some judiciously placed flashbacks. Punters have history with the franchise and it doesn’t do any harm to play around with what has gone before. Cruise again allegedly does all his own stunts, whether he is holding on for dear life to the wing of a turbo-prop plane or perpetually springing towards or from lurking dangers.

With Cruise in charge you feel slightly more reassured about the future of the planet than anything emanating from the current Trump regime. For that alone the new film is worth an investment of your time – not an inconsiderable commitment at running time of close on two- and-a-half hours.

The title does contain the adjunct The Final Reckoning but how final that will actually be is anyone’s guess. Why give up on profitable franchise. On the other hand should Cruise not follow the maxim of “quitting while you are ahead” .Time will tell but Cruise definitely gets better as he grows older and his commitment to cinematic thrills and spills has to be applauded.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning on release Australia on 17 May, UK and Ireland 21 May, and US 23 May.

Reviewed on: 15 May 2025