Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Review: A Bloated, Glossy Goodbye That Forgets the Fun

by Tom May 25, 2025

After nearly three decades of globe-trotting espionage and increasingly audacious stunt work, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning arrives to put a capstone on one of Hollywood’s most enduring action franchises. But instead of a thrilling sendoff, what we get is a long, lore-heavy slog that seems more invested in honoring its own mythology than delivering a satisfying cinematic experience. Tom Cruise, ever the committed showman, does his best to prop up the film with charisma and sheer force of will. Unfortunately, not even he can outrun the script’s muddled plotting and excessive self-importance.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Review: A Bloated, Glossy Goodbye That Forgets the Fun

The film picks up with Ethan Hunt (Cruise) once again trying to save the world, this time from a rogue AI known as “The Entity,” which threatens global systems, truth itself, and apparently narrative clarity. If you thought the plot of Dead Reckoning Part One was a bit convoluted, this sequel doubles down. Characters come and go with ominous urgency, everyone talks about the importance of trust and choice, and yet none of it lands with any real weight. The movie assumes a deep investment in the ongoing Mission: Impossible lore, recycling characters and plot threads as if this were Marvel’s Endgame rather than a spy thriller.

That would be fine if the pacing kept things moving, but The Final Reckoning drags at nearly every turn. Clocking in well over two and a half hours, it feels padded and often strangely inert. Dialogue scenes stretch on endlessly, often repeating information the audience has already been given. Flashbacks appear frequently, not for character development, but seemingly just to remind us of past events. The film does not trust its audience to remember anything from earlier entries or even from earlier scenes. This constant rehashing kills any momentum and makes the runtime feel even longer.

Worse, much of it simply does not make sense. Motivations are murky. The mechanics of the Entity’s threat are vaguely defined. Alliances shift without clear reasoning. What once was a franchise built on clever reversals and taut plotting now feels like it is drowning in exposition. You can almost feel the writers trying to patch narrative holes with more dialogue, only making things murkier.

And yet, through all of this, Tom Cruise still gives it his all. Whether sprinting through London or simply staring into the camera with intense conviction, he remains one of the last movie stars who can command the screen by presence alone. His dedication is never in question, and for brief stretches, he lifts the film beyond its own muddled structure.

The other major asset here is Hayley Atwell, who returns as Grace, the skilled thief reluctantly pulled into Ethan’s chaotic world. Atwell brings levity, timing, and grounded emotion to scenes that sorely need it. Her chemistry with Cruise is natural and watchable, and she handles both the dramatic and action beats with ease. It is a shame the film does not give her more to do beyond reacting to exposition and looking confused about who to trust.

There are four notable sequences. One is the interrogation early on. The second is a tight, gritty fight scene aboard a submarine, where choreography and confined space give the film some real energy. The third, and most ambitious, is a high-stakes sequence inside a sunken submarine wreck. It is moody, claustrophobic, and visually striking, even if it goes on a bit too long. And finally, there is a climactic biplane chase that offers spectacle but never quite earns its emotional payoff. While each sequence works on its own terms, they are too few and too far apart to sustain the film.

Visually, the film is polished but generic. There are no standout visual flourishes or creative uses of space. It looks like a very expensive television show, competently lit and globally scoped but missing the cinematic edge that defined earlier entries like Ghost Protocol or Fallout. Lorne Balfe’s score does its best to inject urgency, but it often feels overused, straining to generate excitement the story does not support.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a film that confuses complexity for depth and legacy for meaning. Tom Cruise remains magnetic, and Hayley Atwell is a welcome presence, but they are trapped in a movie that spends more time explaining itself than entertaining. The big stunts are still here, but the connective tissue between them has frayed. For a series built on slick thrills and clever tension, this final chapter feels like a misfire: bloated, self-serious, and surprisingly dull.