‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING’ Review: An Exhilarating Adrenaline Rush with Gold Standard Action For The Ages

Courtney Howard // Film Critic

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING

Rated PG-13, 2 hours and 49 minutes

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Esai Morales, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Pom Klementieff, Ving Rhames, Greg Tarzan Davis, Shea Whigham, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett, Rolf Saxon, Tramell Tillman, Katy O’Brian, Holt McCallany, Hannah Waddingham

After 7 absolutely harrowing, seemingly impossible missions spent with IMF field agent extraordinaire Ethan Hunt in the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise, we can all expect our beloved hero is going to go rogue from his top secret assignment not solely to save his tight knit circle of chummy colleagues from death, but also the world from assured annihilation. However, over the course of almost 3 decades, there’s been significant collateral damage in the process, losing his once-happy marriage and a handful of comrades from his crew. Yet the highly skilled operative, who harbors a deep-rooted guilt complex, has kept his sacred oath to the organization that moves in the shadows – an oath that’s become the thematic and narrative fulcrum of two of the most recent, expansive, boundary-breaking films.

On the character’s 8^th and alleged farewell quest in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING, it feels wholly satisfying that co-writer/ director Christopher McQuarrie and star/ muse/ madman Tom Cruise are fittingly ripping a page from their protagonist’s dossier, going off-book to deliver the gold standard in innovative, visceral filmmaking. All the stakes in the previous chapter, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART 1, intensify by leaps and bounds in its continuative sequel. It’s an exhilarating adrenaline rush to the head and heart, as well as an immersive, awe-inducing stuntacular of the highest order. They lean into cinematic inspirations gifting us with a throwback espionage conspiracy thriller and bold, brilliant actioner for the ages.

When we reunite with Ethan (Cruise), it’s only a few months after the events that took place in Austria on the Orient Express facing off against Gabriel (Esai Morales). Ethan (Cruise) has been laying low in London, refusing to turn himself in to U.S. authorities Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis) and Riggs (Shea Whigham). He still has the mysterious, coveted cruciform key (a cross-shaped metaphor for the absolution he so desperately seeks) in his possession and is burdened by his task to defeat “The Entity,” a now-sentient, dangerous AI that decimates world governments, banking and informative truths. The enigmatic Big Bad has managed to sow division in humankind as well as overtake and corrupt a few countries’ nuclear arsenals. It’s also birthed a fanatical movement with acolytes everywhere infiltrating government positions.

Ethan is at an impasse with his cantankerous handler Kittridge (Henry Czerny), who wants to control the Entity’s unlimited power, whereas Ethan knows they need to destroy it. Trouble is, if Ethan kills the AI, it could trigger a world-wide Armageddon. That’s a risk he and his crafty team – including Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames) and Grace (Hayley Atwell) – are willing to take. They just need to figure out the process, starting with locating the sunken Sevastopol submarine and extricating the “Podkova” hard drive containing the Entity’s original source code, as whoever holds the source code has the power to take over the world. And naturally Ethan has only a few days and a slim margin of error to foil Gabriel and The Entity’s plan for world domination.

McQuarrie and co-writer Erik Jendresen incorporate people and props from Ethan’s past not primarily as fan service, but with meaningful narrative intent. While regretful worry about consequences and career obsolescence have crept into our hero’s redemptive journey, gifting his ever-evolving arc with significant poignancy, they grant him some resolve through the inclusion of NOC list guardian William Donloe (Rolf Saxton), whose secure fortress Ethan broke into in De Palma’s franchise kick-off. President Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett) is given more heft as a leader. Still, it’s Paris (Pom Klementieff) who experiences the most interesting arc as the once-unhinged, henchwoman-turned-helper joins Ethan’s team. The explanation of J.J. Abrams’ “mystery box” that is the Rabbit’s Foot in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III (as seen in this film’s trailer) directly informs and drives Ethan’s internal ethical conflict.

New additions like Admiral Neely (Hannah Waddingham) and Kodiak (Katy O’Brian) are a breath of fresh air for the series in their brief, indelible appearances. Though their screen time is limited, their inclusion is of utmost importance as these characters, in their basic essence, mirror Ethan’s risks. The DR. STRANGELOVE-esque war room participants all seem to represent splinters of Ethan’s refracted psyche: Walters (Janet McTeer) voices his logical conundrums, Serling (Holt McCallany) is his glib indignation, and General Sydney (Nick Offerman) stands in as his sacrifice. In terms of the supporting players, Tramell Tillman is the scene-stealing MVP as Captain Bledsoe, a military submarine skipper helping Ethan reach his target destination,.

While it takes more than a beat to get to the edge-of-your-seat stunt sequences, the chess pieces are being aligned to make those moments resound and soar. Grief, anxiety, tension and occasional splashes of humor intermingle in the perfectly pitched tones to make the dialogue-free Big Action Set Pieces propulsive, placing the character drive at the forefront. The precariously-perched Sevastopol scene (which feels like it pulls inspiration from THE ABYSS and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY), where Ethan must work through a snowballing series of problems to survive, and the palm-sweat-inducing biplane duel in the climax (which feels plucked out of an INDIANA JONES serial, especially given Ethan’s wardrobe) are worth the admission price – and then some.

Unlike previous installments where the globe-trotting was ostentatious, locations take on a more insular, less glamorous look. They still chart thousands of miles, but it’s across frozen Arctic tundra, deep in the Bering Sea and through green valleys in South Africa. Cinematographer Fraser Taggart captures an interesting juxtaposition of the harshness of the environments and their evocative beauty. When in darkened rooms and underground recesses, he skillfully paints with shadows and light, augmenting the thematic glare. Composers Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey’s score has a thoughtful swagger, building on the previous films’ compositions as if to intone the sentiment that Ethan’s the sum of all his missions. Editor Eddie Hamilton’s dissolves and iris wipes give this chapter a refreshed identity, ratcheting up the intrigue of the espionage and perhaps subtly providing a self-aware nod to the outlandish nature of Ethan’s mission.

It’s quite an ambitious feat that Cruise has tackled on this journey with this character from 1996 onward, transforming his cocky arrogance to valiant empathy over the course of 8 films. There’s never a dull moment in what’s been earmarked as the franchise’s finale, even during reiterations of the mission at hand, which are there to remind us of the mounting obstacles our heroic team is to surmount. Logistically it might not all add up, but what’s there keeps us focused, completely beguiled and entertained. You need to see this on on the biggest IMAX screen possible.

Grade: A

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING opens in theaters on May 23.