David Farnor | On 18, Aug 2025

Director: Chrisopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rolf Saxon, Henry Czerny, Nick Offerman, Angela Bassett
Certificate: 12

Our lives are the sum of our choices. That’s the tenet at the heart of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth and possible last film in the Mission: Impossible franchise. The direct follow-up to Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning pits the Entity, an evil, powerful AI that predicts human behaviour based on people’s past decisions, against Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), an IMF agent who frequently makes unpredictable decisions to jump off any moving vehicle within 20 miles.

We pick things up two months after the latest of those moving vehicles: the now-iconic train crash that saw Ethan and recruited thief Grace (the entertainignly sparky Hayley Atwell) survive an exploding bridge to obtain the key that would open the Entity’s source code. In the weeks since, the world has turned into a familiar place where nobody trusts anyone else, AI deepfakes are commonplace and geopolitical stability is crumbling amid fears of nuclear war. And a doomsday cult welcoming our new AI overlord has popped up for good measure.

Enter US President Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett), who demands Ethan surrender the key. His counter-offer? Lure the Entity into an offline mainframe where Benji (Simon Pegg) can destroy it using malware that Luther (Ving Rhames) has programmed. He just needs to find the Sevastopoal, the sunken submarine that’s in an unknown location, and avoid being killed by Gabriel (Esai Morales), the Entity’s former favourite human sidekick, who wants control of the AI for himself.

And so the stage is set for an underwater heist and an off-grid showdown to top off eight films’ worth of daring, increasingly improbable feats. The only slight problem with this absurdly entertaining slice of spectacle is that takes a good hour to deliver two paragraphs of exposition – something that sets the mood firmly to ominous but relies on its cast’s charisma to keep us hooked. Fortunately for us and director Christopher McQuarrie (and co-writer Erik Jendresen), that cast is led by Tom Cruise, and he’s on top form here, bearing every weight he can on his shoulders as he steps up to the IMF plate one last time.

When the action does kick into gear, it doesn’t disappoint, and McQuarrie lines up planes, defusals, kidnaps and escapes with all the thrill and spectacle of someone being let loose with their favourite toys. The standout moment, though, comes halfway through, when all that build-up pays off with a stunning submarine sequence that knows Mission: Impossible works best when it’s just its star up against the elements. The slow-paced 20-minute set piece unfolds in near silence, allowing the pressure and groans of the submarine’s fragile walls, and Tom Cruise’s face, to do the heavy lifting – it’s blockbuster peril at its most stripped back, and it’s absolutely nailbiting. No other franchise can make you sit quietly for what feels like half an hour, only to realise you’re not breathing.

If things never quite surpass that midpoint’s peak, that doesn’t diminish the achievement – the franchise has long succeeded on the cumulative suspense of multiple stunts, rather than one climactic finale. Indeed, The Final Reckoning saves its best flourish for an understated segue partway through, as we spend time reconnecting with an unexpected Rolf Saxon, whose gently warm performance almost steals the entire show. Amid callbacks and cameos that verge on distraction (a Jim Phelps shoutout takes things one step too far), it’s a delightful reminder of the human stakes that give the franchise its heart, and heart-stopping suspense.

Will the world need saving again by Ethan Hunt and his IMF team? You wouldn’t bet against it, but if this is their last outing, it’s a satisfyingly ridiculous way to go. Our lives are the sum of our choices, as CIA director Kittridge (Henry Czerny) reminds us, and The Final Reckoning is a bombastic celebration of an endearing ensemble of friends willing to choose to do the impossible for each other and the planet. What an improbable and often insurpassable series this franchise has become.

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