- for sequences of strong violence and action, bloody images, and brief language.
Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must work together to stop The Entity from causing a global nuclear catastrophe.
Calling Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible movie franchise "ambitious" would be an understatement. 2025 marks 29 years since the release of the first film, and no one could have predicted Cruise would carry a total of 8 films in just shy of 30 years. In fact, right around the midpoint - the release of 2011's Ghost Protocol - was there much talk about someone like Jeremy Renner carrying the torch for the franchise moving forward. But with the release of 2015's Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, director Christopher McQuarrie (and longtime collaborator with Cruise) adopted the franchise alongside Cruise and the pair have put together some of the franchise's best, and most daring, entries. After the success of 2018's Fallout, the announcement of two more films - separated into two parts - were announced to be released a year apart from each other. While that didn't quite go to plan -- Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One released in 2023 and then Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is just releasing now - this latest entry is being treated as the conclusion to Cruise's franchise. Whether it really is the end probably will be dictated by box office sales (a runaway hit may lead to at least the studio greenlighting a ninth movie in some capacity), but as it is, The Final Reckoning attempts to wrap up these 8 movies as one conhesive story, working hard to tie them all together... and maybe a little too hard.
I'm a sucker for good fan service, but one can easily argue that we're living in a time in Hollywood where fan service is being given prominence over good story. This isn't to say that that happens with Final Reckoning, but I think it's safe to say I'm less blissfully excited by it these days. The Final Reckoning does some of it, but arguably not all of it, really well. The opening sequence for the film shows clips from literally all previous 7 movies, and we'll see callbacks and clips from the first, third, and seventh movies scattered throughout The Final Reckoning. This works for those who haven't seen those movies and are coming into the franchise fresh here, and it also works as a recap for those who haven't watched them in a while. I personally take this franchise much too seriously, admittedly - after all, I saw the first movie on the big screen while I was in high school, just a few short months before starting JFH - and I made sure to revisit all seven movies before seeing The Final Reckoning on IMAX (which was mind-blowing by the way. They're right when McQ and Cruise tell audiences to "see it on the biggest screen possible." This movie is made specifically for that). I appreciated this movie's callbacks to previous entries - my favorite of which is a long gestating one to 2006's Mission: Impossible III, which I won't spoil here, but you can probably guess if you've seen the spoiler-y trailers for this movie. My least favorite fan-service reference may be to an obscure importance placed on May 22, 1996, which was the theatrical release date for the first movie. It's a little corny, but I guess only diehard fans may get its significance when they see the date on screen.
For the less informed, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is, in fact, a Part Two to 2023's Dead Reckoning. That movie set up an evil AI called The Entity as the main force of evil needing to be stopped from potentially causing global annihilation. As Dead Reckoning hit theaters, AI chat programs were starting to be incorporated more heavily in our everyday use, so it's a little creepy and entirely timely to have artificial intelligence serving as the story's main antagonist. But to keep a human element, Esai Morales steps in as an old foe of Cruise's Ethan Hunt, named Gabriel, who is working with The Entity, and it adds an extra personal layer to the stakes for Ethan. If you want to see The Final Reckoning but haven't seen Dead Reckoning, you will probably catch on quickly enough, but this movie is very much a continuation of the previous one, so I'd highly recommend seeing that one first. In fact, if you have seen it before but it's been a while, I also encourage a rewatch before seeing The Final Reckoning. But it's the diehard fans who will glean the most from this finale.
Because I've been thoroughly invested in these movies, pretty much from the third movie-on especially (that second one nearly lost me), I've had to process this one a bit longer to see how I feel about it (I also had a distracting group of people talking behind me in the theater which affected my experience). But Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is a pretty strong send-off, if this is truly the end. It's actually a lot different in feel, surprisingly. Because the stakes here are so high, the U.S. government gets involved, and the operation is far less covert. These movies are mostly action-driven spy thrillers and The Final Reckoning is surprisingly light on the spy elements. There are plenty of action sequences and intense moments, but they're more what you might expect from just your regular action movie. In the same way some movies, like Star Wars, might split up characters we're used to seeing together, The Final Reckoning does this to an extent as well. And since this is being considered the franchise's swan song, that can be rather bittersweet. Also, one could argue that Lorne Balfe's booming, horn and drum-heavy scores for Fallout and Dead Reckoning really added to the feel of the movies, and his absence is definitely felt with Max Aruj & Alfie Godfrey stepping in his place. Their score here still works, don't get me wrong - especially for the emotional needs of the story - but their style is much more symphonic, while Balfe was giving his scores a darker, more brooding atmosphere. I have enjoyed listening to Max Aruj & Alfie Godfrey's treatment since seeing the film (I'm listening as I write and proofread this actually), but I can't help wonder what Balfe would have done in their place.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning feels like it's swinging for the fences, and many times, it does knock it out of the park. The submarine exploration sequence - which one might consider sort of a slow burn, and that climactic biplane chase, are worth the price of admission alone. But it's hard to figure out exactly how I feel about the entire production with it working so hard to bookend all that's come before it. Some of it feels too forced or too neatly wrapped up, while other moments click perfectly. My feelings in rewatching its predecessors is that the franchise peaked with Fallout, with Dead Reckoning being a really strong follow-up. But I'm not sure this grand finale can surpass those heights (although that biplane chase is worthy for sure. Seriously; Cruise delivers). The movies often had a little humor or fun mixed in, and there's really only one sequence - just before this movie's main titles, ironically - that captures some of that. For the most part, The Final Reckoning is about as serious as it can get... and if you're invested in these characters, then you'll be on edge of your seat about what just might happen to them in this final chapter.
The content is shockingly tamer, in some ways, than some of the previous films. In a couple moments, however, it's some of the most edgy. For starters, for a movie pushing 3 hours in length, this movie may have the least use of profanity than any of the preceding movies, surprisingly. There's just one "S" word, and it's from a throwaway military character we see in one scene. While some blasphemy has been used on occasion in the other movies, it's limited here to just a use of "For G-d's sake" and "G-d knows," which is great. Aside from two uses of "S.O.B," there are just a couple uses of "h*ll," 1 of "*ss," 1 of "b*stard," and 1 of "d*mn."
The violence is really where it may surprise some viewers. There's a great gag (again, really the only comedic moment in the movie) where some brutal violence is happening off screen and we then see the aftermath, and we see some blood on two dead guys and a meat cleaver sticking out of the back of one of them. After a minor character is murdered off screen, we just see some blood dripping off their fingers. Later in the film, a character is shot and is seen with blood on their hands. We don't ever see the wound, but there's a moment where someone has to operate on them, and we briefly see an incision on their chest before a hollow tube is pushed into the hole. The helper's hand blocks the gory details and the actual cutting motion, but it's still a pretty intense moment - and likely to make some viewers queasy. After the tube is inserted, we just see it sticking out of their chest for several scenes afterwards (the helper's hand blocks the actual entry point). It's likely that the fact viewers would be seeing this on "the biggest screens possible" was taken into consideration when deciding how vivid to show some of the more gruesome moments. When Ethan visits the submerged submarine, The Sevastopol, we do see some dead frozen victims of the wreck. Their faces look iced over and slighly bloodied with one of them frozen in a look of horror. It's a little unsettling. Lastly, a person's arm is shown being broken/dislocated at the shoulder (as they scream in shock and pain), and a character hits their head on part of a vehicle very unexpectedly, causing visual blood splatter, although we don't see the actual wound itself.
Cruise and company have created some pretty exciting action spy thrillers with this Mission: Impossible franchise in the past 29 years. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning serves as a celebration of the entire franchise and a way to show gratitude to those who have been along for the whole ride. Fans probably won't be disappointed with Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, even if it isn't the best entry to date. But in any case, it's still an exciting one, and even if I may need a couple more viewings to really form a firm opinion on it, I think I can say with certainty that they still finished strong with Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning.
- John DiBiase (reviewed: 5/24/25)
Sex/Nudity: When imprisoned, Paris is shown in crop top, exposing her scarred stomach, and it's obvious she's not wearing a bra as the shapes of her nipples are prominent in the top she's wearing.
Vulgarity/Language: 1 "S" word, 1 "a" word, 4 "h*ll," 1 "d*mn," 2 "S.O.B," 1 "b*stard," 1 "For G-d's sake," 1 "G-d knows"
Alcohol/Drugs: Paris is seen drinking from a flask; Liquor is poured on a knife to sterilize it.
Blood/Gore: We see many clips from previous M:I movies, including the scene with Claire having blood on her and around her during a mission in the opening of the first movie. We also see the shot (two different times) of Jack's face hitting the blade at the top of the elevator from the same movie; We see a brutal scar going down the center of Paris's bare stomach (from being stabbed in the previous film); A man is seen with a molar in between his teeth/lips as he threatens to bite down on it. When he does, he has foam on his mouth in a couple shots and convulses at one point; Ethan grabs a torture device (from their attackers) that looks like a metal version of a meat tenderizer and we see someone else's horrified reactions while Ethan fights two men off screen. The camera then pans to a shelf lying on top of a man and another man lying on top of the shelf with a bloody meat cleaver sticking out of his back and blood on the man on the bottom as well. Ethan's shirt is shown with blood (from those men) on it for a few scenes after this; A dead woman's hand is focused on as we see blood dripping off her fingers; We see a few frozen dead bodies inside the submarine. Some of their faces have ice and a little decomposition and a little blood on their faces as well. One's face is frozen in a look of horror which is startling; In a submarine flashback, some of the men on board have blood on their heads/faces; As Ethan fights a man, he pushes the man's face against a moving treadmill belt. We then briefly see some blood on the man's face during the rest of the fight; We see blood on a man's hand after he's been shot and removes his hand from his side; Benji has bloody scrapes on his face; Ethan has blood on the side of his face/head and on his ear; A man needs emergency surgery, so he tells a woman to make an incision in his chest. She does so with a knife and we don't see the impact but we see the motion of it happening (her arm blocks anything graphic). We briefly then see the cut/incision on his chest before she inserts a hollow pen tube into the cut. We don't see the insertion exactly - her hand blocks the cut at this point - but we see her pushing it into his chest. From this point on, we see it sticking out of his chest, but there isn't any blood, and her hand blocks the entry point in the skin; A man's arm is pulled out of its socket/broken backwards and we see this as he screams in horror; As a man falls out of a plane, his face hits a plane rudder, killing him instantly. We see the blood splatter onto the rudder and on in his face in this unexpected moment; We see some blood on a person's fingertips as they splice wires together.
Violence: In the beginning of the movie, we see many clips from all of the previous M:I movies, showing various action/violent moments. We also see the shot (two different times) of Jack's face hitting the blade at the top of the elevator from the first movie; Two men attack, taser and disarm multiple men to free a prisoner. A couple agents almost shoot the attackers but do not; A man is subdued by having tranquilizers injected into his body and neck multiple times. A woman is also subdued; A man is seen with a molar in between his teeth/lips as he threatens to bite down on it. When he does, he has foam on his mouth in a couple shots and convulses at one point; Ethan fights with a couple guys threatening to torture him and another person. Ethan then grabs a torture device that looks like a metal version of a meat tenderizer and we see someone else's horrified reactions while Ethan fights two men off screen. The camera then pans to a shelf lying on top of a man and another man lying on top of the shelf with a bloody meat cleaver sticking out of his back and blood on the man on the bottom as well; A man goes to a man sleeping in bed to kill him, but ends up killing his nurse instead. We see her body lying there out of focus with the camera just focusing on her bloody fingers; A man is locked inside a cage with a bomb. He is given the tools to disarm it but isn't able to completely stop it (it will still kill him). When it explodes, we see someone else running away from the blast; A man gets inside the crate containing The Entity and it locks him inside, restraining his arms and legs. He's then forced to see violent images of a potential future, with nuclear bombs exploding all over the world. We see footage of major cities and their famous landmarks exploding and being demolished by large explosions. We see lots of quick-flash images, too, including someone with a ghostly frozen-over face. This extended sequence is pretty intense and the global threat could be disturbing to some; The Sevastopol is shown in flashback briefly with dead bodies floating in the water and under the icy arctic surface; We see a few frozen dead bodies inside the submarine. Some of their faces have ice and a little decomposition and a little blood on their faces as well. One's face is frozen in a look of horror which is startling; A man attacks Ethan with a knife while he's running on a treadmill. The two have an extensive fight with hitting and kicking each other. At one point, Ethan pushes the man's face into the spinning belt of the treadmill. It ends when the attacker is struck in the head; Some foreign soldiers hold people at gunpoint in a cabin. A fight breaks out where multiple characters are shot and killed. Benji struggles with a gunman and is briefly knocked out under a falling bookshelf; A man is seen underwater as he travels through a sunken submarine. It starts to fill with water, causing it to roll and toss the man and its contents inside (like large torpedoes) around; A woman hits a gunman with a shovel and then she and another woman briefly fight him; Fire engulfs a cabin with people inside as they fight each other (Most make it out alive); We see some men sneaking up on other men and knifing them/killing them quietly from a distance; There's a shootout in a cave where multiple people are shot and killed; Some people huddle around a large bomb to try to diffuse it, knowing it may result in their deaths; There is a constant threat of a nuclear war breaking out and talk of The Entity getting control of other countries' arsenals; We see a brief car chase with buggies/jeeps that ends in them crashing violently; A man jumps on a biplane as it takes off and he fights with the pilot in mid-air, eventually throwing the man out of the plane. Another biplane uses its propellers to damage the rudder on this plane and bump into it to damage the wings; A man tries to shoot a high ranking government official but is shot by another person and killed. We then see the person who subdued the attacker was shot and we see them slump over and die suddenly; A woman must perform emergency surgery on a man whose lung is collapsing after being shot. She makes an incision on his chest and inserts a hollow pen tube into his chest to alleviate the pressure and help him breathe (we see this surgery in some detail); A man jumps on another biplane and the pilot tries stabbing the man through the side of the plane as he hangs on. He clings to the wings as the pilot spins the plane, trying to shake off the man off; A man's arm is pulled out of its socket/broken backwards and we see this as he screams in horror; As a man falls out of a plane, his face hits a plane rudder, killing him instantly. We see the blood splatter onto the rudder and on in his face in this unexpected moment. The body then slides away and falls; A plane catches on fire; A man falls through the air and pulls his parachute. The parachute burns up and the man continues to fall. He then fights to pull his reserve chute; A man points a gun at another man, but then lowers it; And plenty of other action-related violence.
Disclaimer: All reviews are based solely on the opinions of the reviewer. Most reviews are rated on how the reviewer enjoyed the film overall, not exclusively on content. However, if the content really affects the reviewer's opinion and experience of the film, it will definitely affect the reviewer's overall rating.
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