Mission: Impossible has been a fan favorite movie ever since the original movie was released in 1996—Tom Cruise made his TV series debut by playing the role of Ethan Hunt, a highly skilled agent for the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). This acclaimed series holds a special place in television history because Cruise always does his own stunts, whether it means jumping off of buildings or hanging from a plane 1000 feet in the air.
In July of 2023, Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie released part one of the franchise wrap-up, Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning. The action-packed movie starts off by introducing “The Entity,” an extremely advanced but detrimental AI program. The AI’s power is demonstrated when it is activated on a Russian stealth submarine and subsequently goes rogue, sinking the submarine with the entire crew inside. Agent Hunt is then tasked with obtaining a special cruciform key that can control The Entity and prevent worldwide destruction. The most notable stunts of this movie had Cruise skydiving to catch a train and riding a motorcycle off a cliff. Although these were impressive, the plot itself was undoubtedly the best part. Viewers see Agent Hunt and his IMF team members travel to destinations including Abu Dhabi, Venice and Paris to track down arms dealers and contain The Entity’s source code. The intense build-up throughout the entire film left viewers excited for part two; it was evident that the plot had not yet been fully unraveled.
Part two, Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, was released on May 23, 2025. Agent Hunt, alongside Luther, Benji and the rest of his team, continues to pursue Gabriel, the antagonist of the film and the proxy of The Entity, in order to deactivate the AI entirely. Extra pressure is placed on Hunt as nuclear world powers begin losing control of their weapons to The Entity. Over the period of the three-hour-long movie, Hunt struggles to keep his friends out of danger and contemplates turning himself in to the president of the United States, rather than carrying out the mission. Upon completing it, Hunt reunites with his team in London and vanishes into a crowd of people to conclude the film.
One critique for the movie as a whole is that while it has the fast pace that is expected in this genre of cinema, the elements don’t fit together the way they usually do. The stunts were excessively intense and should have been toned down. Rather than being enjoyable and riveting, they were stressful. Two hours in, it became almost exhausting to watch the death-defying action.
On the other hand, Director McQuarrie did a satisfactory job of capturing the nostalgia that is associated with Mission: Impossible. The iconic theme song and signature scenes (involving self-destructing messages) connected this film back to the previous ones. Additionally, the flashbacks of scenes from the first Mission: Impossible film were sentimental and heartwarming.
While The Final Reckoning will keep the majority of an audience awake for the duration of the film, it seems like a good and much-needed end to the Mission: Impossible franchise. The excess of stunts and slightly dragged plot was tolerable due to the reputation and high standards of the actors and directors. However, if there were to be another movie, there’s no saying it would be as interesting. This movie provided a sense of closure for Ethan Hunt’s journey and wrapped up on a good note at the right time.
