Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

It was quite clear this film had lofty ambitions since the previous entry.

And considering what it is, what came before it and the legacy it was meant to conclude.. I was expecting to be wowed! Not bored at the start, anxious for something to happen in the middle, and losing all hope to at least be surprised by the end.

It is almost 3 hours long, and the little that does happen, is buried between too much nothing. Awful pacing, dull and meanders dialogue that often goes nowhere nor builds-up to something, a completely dull villain and threat. And worse of all.. what is the point in a movie that constantly tells you exactly how it is going to go? And by virtue of being what it is, there is absolutely no mystery about its conclusion. Not playing with a viewer's expectation is NOT a requirement in storytelling.. but you have to give them something! A bit of tension and intrigue.

It's a shame because I can see what it wanted to achieve with its premise, but it feels stuck in the past while trying to use more modern tropes.

Still, it is entertaining enough, and provides spectacle-scenes so incredible anyone would be hard pressed to replicate them in such quality. The cast is okay, the locations good, great production, visuals and cinematography.

But a film has to be more than a few set pieces and scenes.. it has to work as a whole and be more than the sum of its parts.

It's a fact that not all previous entries have been stellar. So I'm somewhat sad this is how M. I. "ends".

This movie successfully concluded this 30-year-old franchise. The action was superb but not over-the-top. There are a lot of characters from the past that being brought back naturally, which I feel is a nice touch. It serves their purpose and doesn't feel out of place or forced. However, not all are to my liking - the twist wasn't as impressive as previous movies and the plot felt a bit linear and thin. It's almost 3 hours so I feels like a road trip rather than a roller coaster. Despite this, I enjoyed the ride and it reminded me of what MI is really about: "We live and die in the shadows, for those we hold close, and those we never meet."

As both parts of the final film in the Mission Impossible franchise were shot back to back, I can't understand the marketing decision to release the 2 chapters 2 years apart. Having said that, the opening- again - was a masterpiece: fast, entertaining, suspenseful. What followed thereafter was 1 hour too long. They just stretched the final action scene endlessly and the White House/ Pentagon scenes were too pompous and too long. One could have made the film so much better and more entertaining by cutting A LOT of scenes. However the movie was still fun, but by far not the best of the series. All actors were excellent, the action scenes were the stars, as usual. Unfortunately many dialogues sounded like the were written by "the entity" aka KI.

Lamest movie in the series, if not ever! I unfortunately spent money in the theatre to watch this so waste of time as well as money! I don't even want to waste any more words writing this review but unfortunately cannot post this until and unless it contains three hundred words so to sum up... Lamest movie ever!

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is bombastic to put it mildly, given all the fast-paced exposition and visually resounding action setpieces.

While after the Hitchcockian narrative of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, this concluding chapter somewhat may feel a bit inadequate - especially with all those lots of scenes in caves and lairs and prisons with no astoundingly risky turn - the highs are even higher than the lows seem lower. Let me tell you, everyone will be googling "Mission Impossible 8 submarine scene" a week for now.

The underwater chapter is indeed breathtaking and quite original piece of filmmaking and a nice addition to M:I franchise which saves the movie big time. That 20-minute sequence with submarine is perhaps the most original piece of action written for action-oriented narratives since 1996's Mission: Impossible's own aqua cafe sequence between Ethan and Kittdridge, directed brilliantly by Brian De Palma. The suspense as Ethan so assiduously tackled all those aquatic, James Cameron-isque challanges was palpable. The realism and authenticity added the rest.

Else, they have recycled tropes all over the place in order to pay homage - the gala which is rendered into a jail before the gathering itself is even exhibited - no fancy cars, garish costumes, stupendous decorum, dances, masks, bluetooth talk, etc. In here. I missed the trains as well.

And narratively, there also exists this thing called predictability, and it's here to stay in the movie - the biggest weakness of The Final Reckoning. The movie is, perhaps, the least memorable for its twists - or the lack thereof - when compared to all the other M:I movies in the franchise, probably tied with Mission: Impossible 2. But that's not to say it is bad, or average or even above average - no! It's hella great!!

In terms of action-based storytelling as well, this may seem like a step backwards from Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Most scenes, when considering the movie is nearly 3 hours long, is quite limited or superfluous otherwise. But all of that pays off in the final act, trust Mr. Cruise. Because that brings us to the biplane chase sequence.

After 150 minutes of absolutely no motorcycles and cars chasing each other, though plenty of Cruise sprinting, the red and yellow old-school biplanes going after each other in South African skies is something that should adequately feed all the ravenous audiences. It's suspenseful, it's engaging, it's REALLY dangerous; though the villainous Gabriel character is still bland and bad, like the previous entry.

The diversity, without throwing into our faces what their genders are, is probably the quintessential example of how these things should be done. Hannah Waddingham in charge of aircraft carrier was something that really paid off. I didn't like the "lady boy" person wearing that vest and donning horrible hairstyle in that submarine. Angela Bassett seemed a natural as a president and didn't feel forced to assume a masculine aura just because she's a female US President. Thanks to all the brilliant women in the movie to forsake that awful cliché line "you don't think a woman can do it" - you show them subtly rather than preaching non-stop about such superfluous substance like in some Marvel movie.

Overall, a decent enough Mission: Impossible movie but a brilliant actioner, nonetheless, given how the series has always fared when compared by Hollywood's standards. Kudos to Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie.

7.5/10.