Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (2025) Review

After 30 years, it seems like all the previous Mission Impossible films have been building to this film, The Final Reckoning. I have enjoyed this franchise overall and was excited to see this film, well yesterday I got that chance and here is my review for Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. The premise of the film sees Ethan Hunt and his team attempt to stop The Entity from destroying the world once and for all. 

Main Character

Tom Cruise is once again back as Ethan Hunt and he is fantastic. His dedication to this role is off of the charts and I just love his portrayal of the character. This film does a great job of showcasing the legacy of the character and Cruise really delivers here. 

Supporting Characters

Alongside Cruise, the only person to be in all of the Mission Impossible films is Ving Rhames who plays Luther Stickell and he is great in this film. The bond between him and Hunt is a real core of this film and I love the chemistry that the two of them have. 

Unfortunately, the rest of the cast doesn't actually have much to do here. Hayley Atwell is back as Grace, Simon Pegg as Benji & Pom Klementieff as Paris but none of them get a chance to shine. The actors really try their best but the material they are given is weak and none of them really get any character development. 

Esai Morales is back as the villain Gabriel and I feel very similar about him. I really like Morales and his performance is good enough but his character is a small part of this film and it just feels like he isn't given enough to interest the audience. 

All the characters in the US Military Team are dull. Angela Bassett as The President and Nick Offerman as a general isn't enough to make their plight interesting or something that needed to be here. 

Story

The story has some good themes to it and I liked the overall feeling of it, especially with a pretty satisfying ending that really fits the narrative of both this film and the franchise. But this film really loses its way with the actual plot. The entity is more dull then the previous film and Gabriel's motivations are half baked at best. The team gets split up and it feels like the focus is really on Ethan Hunt and taken away from other members of the team which is a shame. 

Script

The script is also a real mixed bag. There are some real heart-warming moments that make you really care about the situation that the characters are put in. I also liked how this film is linked to previous ones even if it does get a bit hand fisted at times. But the dialogue mostly feels really robotic and unrealistic that it just makes characters feel bland and not human, also as mentioned the villains whole plot is pointless and doesn't add anything. 

Style

Continuing in Mission Impossible fashion, this film has some fantastic action sequences. The last one in particular is amazing and one of the greatest set pieces I have ever seen on film and this film deserves huge credit for that. But this film has pretty terrible pacing, its nearly 3 hours long and I swear they could have cut almost an hour of stuff here. The first hour basically feels like a recap of previous films and it beats you over the head with exposition which means it takes way too long to really get going. 

Overall

Overall, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is an Above Average film that has amazing action scenes but is way too long and lacks interesting characters. If this is the final film in the franchise then it is disappointing that this film is just okay instead of fantastic. 

Rating - 6/10

Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) Review

Over the last few years, The Mission Impossible films have been some of the best action films in Cinema. Now the 7th film in the franchise Dead Reckoning Part One has been released and I watched it yesterday, here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees Ethan Hunt and his team have to track down a device that could cause World War 3. 

Main Character

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt and he continues his career renaissance with a fantastic performance here. Even though the man is 60 years old, he is brilliant in all the action sequences and there is no inkling that he has any plans on slowing down. His character has also developed really well, you see how the previous films have affected him and it is cool seeing his view on being a member of IMF. 

Supporting Characters

Hayley Atwell is new to the franchise and plays Grace. She is an exciting supporting character and has a really good dynamic with Cruise, it is a major part of the film and I liked how her character was used here as it really felt different to other female characters in this franchise. 

Ving Rhames & Simon Pegg are back in their roles as Luther and Benji and they are both great. This has been a great team together over the last few films and they continue to be a fun duo in this film too. Luther ends up having a larger role then I expected and that was a nice surprise for sure. 

Esai Morales plays the villain Gabriel and I really liked his portrayal. He is physically an equal to Ethan Hunt but he also plays the psychological game and it makes him stand out. His motivations are a little blurry but Morales has the chemistry to make it work. 

Vanessa Kirby & Pom Klementieff do really good jobs in their roles and I thought they were enjoyable to watch depsite not being an integral part of the plot. 

The one character they do treat a bit poorly is Ilsa Faust played by Rebecca Ferguson. She was a major part of the previous 2 films but feels underutilised here, she is just a background character and unfortunately gets no development which is a bit of a let down. 

Story

The story is alright. I liked how it showed how much technology has become a part of our everyday life and once it stops working or even works against us it can really affect people. Also the story of Ethan Hunt as a character is pretty well written and actually shows some development. But it also feels very much like a Part one, in terms that everything feels like build up for the next film, I mean its fun but definitely build up. Also there are certain story elements that aren't really explored or explained and it makes things a bit uninspired and generic. 

Script

The script is pretty well written. The film is pretty serious and that is conveyed well by the actors and the writers. There are dribbles of humour in there and when used appropriately they certainly gave a chuckle and I am glad it doesn't overuse this. 

Style

The film looks fantastic and there are some awesome action sequences. The film travels all over the world and it is really cool seeing these different locations and these sequences used in these environments. Knowing Cruise does his own stunts makes it even more crazy considering some of the stuff that is done in this film. Though I did feel like this film was a little long, it could have shaved 15 mins off and would have been a better film for sure. 

Overall

Overall, Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One is a great film that continues the really good work that the franchise has been doing. It isn't perfect but certainly has me excited for the 2nd part of this film and see if it really hits the spot. 

Rating - 8/10