Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning - Ethan's Last Ride? My In-Depth Review!
Welcome to the Azeem_USA BLOG! I'm your host, Azeem_USA, and today we're breaking down Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. The new movie is here, and it seemingly brings a close to Ethan Hunt's journey. Initially labeled Dead Reckoning Part Two, it's thought they changed this due to the box office performance of part one. I think this title probably fits that better though, as this will apparently be the last time we see Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. But does it live up to the promise and send the franchise off on a high note? Well, throughout this Blog post, we'll be going through it all and discussing our thoughts on the movie.
Table of Contents
- Introduction: The Mission, Should You Choose to Accept?
- The Plot: Continuing the Hunt for the Entity
- Key Plot Twists and Character Arcs
- Action Overload: The Stunts That Define the Film
- Themes: Misinformation, Unity, and Free Will
- My Critical Thoughts: High Peaks and Low Valleys
- The Ending: Is It Truly Final?
- Final Verdict & Recommendation
- Support the Blog!
Introduction: The Mission, Should You Choose to Accept?
Now, let's get into Mission Impossible. When the need for certainty is absolute and the odds are deemed impossible, the mission falls to him. Should he choose to accept? This film continues the journey from last time with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) trying to shut down the evil AI known as the Entity.
Ethan Hunt faces his most formidable, intangible foe yet.
The Plot: Continuing the Hunt for the Entity
Casting your mind back to part one, the driving force was the stealth submarine, the Sevastopol, which housed the Entity before it became sentient and destroyed the sub. Activated by a two-piece cruciform key, this key potentially offers control of the Entity's core. Part one ended with Hunt retrieving the two pieces and delaying the Entity's agent, Gabriel.
In The Final Reckoning, Gabriel, now cast out, wishes to gain control of the AI to rule the world. The Entity has infiltrated almost all global networks and is even worshipped by followers called the "Apostles," with religious imagery (the keys, "it was written," St. Christopher, Noah's Ark, Gabriel's name mirroring Lucifer) laced throughout.
Gabriel is desperate for Hunt to steal a device known as the "Podova" to access the core. Surprise! The Podova is actually the Rabbit's Foot from Part Three! Just as Hunt stole it then to save his love, Gabriel now wants Hunt to do a similar thing to save Grace, though those stakes quickly dissipate.
The Entity itself wants to unleash atomic weapons to destroy mankind, but it also needs to be uploaded to a digital bunker to survive this. The wildcard is the "Poison Pill," a malware device developed by Luther, which, when combined with the Podova, allows control over the AI.
Key Plot Twists and Character Arcs
The film kicks off with a massive, tragic event: Gabriel steals the Poison Pill from Luther and orchestrates a scenario leading to Luther's death. Luther is left to disarm a nuke below London; he removes the atomic component, but the detonators alone kill him in the blast. A truly sad end for a character present since the beginning.
There are nods to the initial movie, including a big reveal with Briggs – he's Jim Phelps' son, Jim Phelps Jr.! This Briggs has a vendetta against Hunt, believing his father was framed. While a nod to the original show's Dan Briggs and the first film's villainous Jim Phelps, this plotline ultimately doesn't add much depth.
The legacy of Jim Phelps casts a long shadow.
Donlow, the CIA analyst from the first film, returns. He'd noted the Sevastopol's coordinates back in 2012 when it sunk. Ethan uses these coordinates to find the sub and retrieve the Podova in an excellent underwater sequence, some of the best ever filmed.
The global stakes rise as America, under President Sloan (Angela Bassett), teeters on launching its nukes. Sloan ultimately decides against it, attempting to take their arsenal offline, but it's too late. Everything rests on Ethan.
Action Overload: The Stunts That Define the Film
Ethan's final plan involves isolating the Entity on a physical drive in South Africa. Here, Gabriel reveals another nuke. Kittridge arrives, wanting US control of the AI. A shootout ensues, leading to an insane biplane chase where Hunt clings to the plane mid-air to get the Poison Pill. He switches seats, deals with wing walkers, hangs from the bottom – pure mental! Gabriel is killed when he hits the plane's rudder.
Tom Cruise hanging off a biplane 8000 ft in the air with 140 mph winds for ‘MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL RECKONING’ pic.twitter.com/DBDwOlmaX8
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 17, 2025
The underwater submarine sequence is also a standout. The constant rolling of the sub and the curveballs thrown at Ethan create an incredibly tense environment. Some of the best work in the franchise, truly.
Themes: Misinformation, Unity, and Free Will
After Hunt uploads the Entity to a drive, Grace snatches it. A final message from Luther plays, discussing fate and free will, summing up Ethan's ethos: keep pushing, and you'll see your destiny manifest. Ethan is someone who works in the shadows so others can see the light.
The film emphasizes people coming together. Phelps shaking Hunt's hand symbolizes this unity. The Entity thrives on division; the only way to beat it is to unite and do the unexpected. This handshake, evolving from regular to a grip, cements this theme of reconciliation.
My Critical Thoughts: High Peaks and Low Valleys
As a standalone film, a sequel to Dead Reckoning, and a franchise culmination, The Final Reckoning is... interesting. There was a time I thought Tom Cruise had taken the spy king crown from Bond. However, the MI series has become a bit self-serious, sometimes overly melodramatic.
While I enjoyed Dead Reckoning Part One initially, its pace felt off on rewatches. This movie suffers similarly. It needed tighter editing; you could legitimately lose an hour, and the story would remain, perhaps even improve. "Bloated" is the word.
The action is excellent, but the dialogue and script are, at points, bafflingly bad. So many side characters exist purely for exposition, delivering lines one after another in an unnatural way, as if the movie thinks you're not smart enough to keep up. The Podova is explained multiple times. Constant cuts to previous movies reinforce this fear of audience confusion, despite a relatively simple core story: get to the sub, steal the source code, lock it on a drive.
The film throws so much at you – the party, Hunt's capture, government machinations, Jim Phelps' son reveal (which doesn't go anywhere) – that there's no time to marinate in moments.
However, when the exposition is out of the way, the movie takes off. The submarine and biplane sequences are incredible. The stunts are what people come for. But the script feels like an afterthought. Many characters, including Grace (who feels totally different and less interesting than last time), are just information conduits. They sidelined and killed Ilsa to usher Grace in, then sidelined Grace too.
So, I'm conflicted. We have the highest peaks in the franchise (stunts) but also the lowest lows (script).
The Ending: Is It Truly Final?
The film closes with the team in London. Grace gives Ethan the drive with the Entity, and he takes it to places unknown, said to be the only one who can be entrusted with it. Rumors suggested an alternate ending where Ethan dies, but the chosen ending is ambiguous. It’s like many other MI endings, with Ethan walking off. I’m surprised they didn’t put a definitive lid on it, given it was pushed as the last one. Tom Cruise seems addicted to this, and I feel they left the door open for more.
Ethan Hunt, with the fate of the world, walks off into uncertainty.
Final Verdict & Recommendation
This is not only a poor sequel to Dead Reckoning but also a poor way to close out the franchise if this is indeed the end. Trying to tie everything together led to a convoluted ending on a weird note. But the stunts *are* amazing.
I'd rank this second from the bottom, just above MI:2. There's an incredible movie in there somewhere, held back by a really bad script. I'm disappointed. When my wife asked if we should go see it at IMAX after I saw it early, I said I don't think it's worth it. I don't know if I could sit through that again.That first hour... I just don't know what was going on. It’s a bit of a bum note to potentially end on.
What are your thoughts on Mission Impossible the Final Reckoning Full Movie experience? I know it's divisive online!
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