Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Movie Review : Stuns with scale and spectacle, but stumbles on story

Story: Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) must stop a rogue AI, The Entity, from triggering a nuclear armageddon. To do so, he must retrieve its source code from a sunken submarine and a “poison pill” device held by Gabriel (Esai Morales) — its dangerous human ally. With old enemies, new allies, and impossible choices, the world’s fate depends on Ethan and the Entity.

Review: The eighth instalment of the beloved Mission: Impossible franchise and a direct sequel to Dead Reckoning Part One, sees Ethan Hunt racing to shut down a rogue AI called The Entity. He must unite its source code with a 'poison pill' pen drive created by his friend Luther (Ving Rhames) to prevent it from triggering a nuclear catastrophe. But it’s far from a simple plug-and-play deal — the source code lies within a wrecked submarine, while the poison pill is in the hands of the villain Gabriel, who seeks to control its power.

Mission: Impossible has earned a cult following for its larger-than-life action, slick execution, glamour, and humour — everything a great spy film needs. However, the latest entry by director-writer Christopher McQuarrie is bogged down by a convoluted plot and uneven storytelling. The first hour is heavy on exposition, slowing the pace with recaps and lengthy dialogues. While the plot has scale — nuclear threats, rogue agents, and chases across the globe, the execution often falls short.

There are some brilliant sequences with stunning set pieces, such as the wrecked submarine track—Ethan’s solo mission inside a gigantic submarine amid torrential currents and debris is tense and visually striking at first, but the sequence overstays its welcome and feels repetitive. That’s the case with a few other moments as well.

The runtime of 169 minutes stretches the story thin, and the narrative suffers from uneven pacing due to all the exposition. The sombre tone is a shift from the cheeky spirit of earlier instalments, which gives it a heavier feel.

The movie still has its share of edge-of-the-seat moments. Besides the submarine infiltration, the race against time to disable the Entity plays out across two parallel tracks—Ethan trying to retrieve the poison pill from Gabriel, and his team comprising Benji (Simon Pegg), Grace (Hayley Atwell), French assassin Paris (Pom Klementieff), Degas (Greg Tarzan Davis), William Donloe (Rolf Saxon), and his wife Tapeesa (Lucy Tulugarjuk) tackling their own challenges.

The biplane sequence between Ethan and Gabriel is the most thrilling and visually impressive — courtesy of cinematographer Fraser Taggart and Tom Cruise performing his own stunts. The film also taps into nostalgia, bringing back Rolf Saxon from the first part and referencing the iconic ceiling-drop and the knife-in-the-floor scenes. There are a few humorous moments, even during high-stakes scenes, such as when Benji, Grace, and Paris attempt to diffuse the Entity.

Tom Cruise is brilliant as Ethan Hunt and shines in every frame, performing stunts with the same finesse he’s shown over the past 30 years. Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff stand out as new additions, while returning team members Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames deliver strong performances.

While the film delivers on scale and spectacle, its narrative complexity and repetitive stretches slow the momentum. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has moments that truly soar, but as a whole, it doesn’t quite enthral. Still, for longtime fans, it serves as a decent finale to Ethan Hunt’s world of impossible missions.