In 1996, Tom Cruise was coming off an incredible three-peat starring in A Few Good Men, The Firm, and Interview with a Vampire. He could’ve done anything…what he decided to do was team up with legendary director Brian De Palma to turn a popular 1960’s show into a blockbuster film. This was the start of the Mission Impossible franchise. 6 directors, 7 directors, and 29 years later, we’ve come to the end of the road for Ethan Hunt and the IMF.  

The final film is aptly titled Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. The story picks up some time after the events of Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning. The evil A.I known as The Entity has manipulated data and is taking hold of the global nuclear system – similar to Skynet in the Terminator series. With the world on the brink of disaster, Ethan Hunt and his IMF team are the only ones that can save it. They must find the sunken submarine and get the Entity’s source code to shut it down.  

If this is the last Mission Impossible film, the Final Reckoning is the perfect send off. From the film’s opening moments, it’s clear it is a love letter to fans of the franchise. Whether you’ve been a fan for 29 years for 29 months, the film does its best to deliver the over-the-top action sequences, death defying stunts, and humor the fans love.  

For fans of the franchise, there are some amazing callbacks to the first Mission: Impossible, the black vault heist, the rabbit’s foot from Mission: Impossible III, and some character reveals fans will not see coming. Those scenes will get cheers and audible gasp from moviegoers.  

Like most Mission: Impossible films, the ensemble cast delivers. We have our familiar IMF faces as well as Esai Morales returning as Gabriel and Pom Klementieff as Paris – one of the best gags in the film is Paris willingness to kill anyone at. Greg Tarzan Davis has a bigger role as Degas this time and he’s a perfect fit for Hunt’s team. Severance’s Tramell Tillman plays a new character named Captain Bledsoe who helps Ethan along the way. We also get a nice cameo from Katy O’Brian. For a film as big as this, they nailed the casting. Even down to the nondescript bad guys, they all do a phenomenal job.  

For 29 years, Tom Cruise has been the big engine that makes this franchise work and his performance in this film is exactly why. Because Tom Cruise does his own stunts, director Christopher McQuarrie can get whatever shot he wants. Some of the action sequences are absolutely jaw dropping. The claustrophobic submarine sequence is incredible and feels like something from the first two films; however it’s something we’ve seen before. The final airplane chase is something we haven’t seen and that’s what makes Tom Cruise a madman and these films a must watch. This franchise consistently delivers some of the best action in film and The Final Reckoning does not disappoint.   

For my money, Mission Impossible is one of the best action franchises that has ever existed. This is the definition of a popcorn summer movie. Even with the almost 3 hour runtime, the film doesn’t feel long. Could they have trimmed some parts of the film? Yes. Will fans enjoy every second of this insane globetrotting adventure? Yes, absolutely yes. The franchise that started as a James Bond knockoff has morphed into something else, but the entertainment value has never dipped.  Tom Cruise is a young 62 years old, he can’t do this forever. But, if he wants to keep making these movies, I’ll be there to watch what hijinks Ethan and his team are up to.

Grade: A-