In “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” Ethan Hunt struggles to carry the weight of the world, not to mention one ridiculously burdensome running time (2 hours, 49 minutes), on his shoulders.
It’s too much for the daring American spy to bear. Not only does it strain Tom Cruise’s charisma to the snapping point, it strains our patience. It’s all too much, even for the film that serves as much as any as the official opening of the summer movie season.
Despite one spectacular, pulse-pounding aerial sequence that will take your breath away near the finale, and a brilliant, hand-wringing scene underwater in a sunken submarine, the eighth and perhaps final entry in a franchise that has provided a bounty of escapist thrills is a shrug of a movie. It’s an utter slog, in particular during its nostalgic, slow-moving first half that is overstuffed with unfulfilling, reverential flashbacks that would be better suited as scenes from a slideshow at a cast wrap-up party.
Not helping matters is a cockamamie, impenetrable plot that makes little sense and involves a rogue AI out to destroy the globe for dubious, not fully thought-out purposes. In prior entries, including its excellent predecessor “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part I” — Ethan wasn’t revered as an outright saint; he was more of a hero who would always save the day. In “The Final Reckoning,” the screenplay insists that he be depicted as Christ-like since he holds the key (no joke there) for saving humankind from the underdeveloped AI dubbed The Entity (even its name is lackluster).
The screenplay all but salivates over Ethan, with everyone beaming about him and telling him constantly that he, and only he, should be the AI puppet master. The muddled storyline shoots Ethan and the IMF team — Grace (Hayley Atwell), an expert pickpocket and new recruit, along with series faves Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) and a new IMF member whom I will not mention because it’s a spoiler — to various locales, including London, the U.S. and the Arctic. They tangle occasionally with the main villain of the previous film, Gabriel (Esai Morales, given little to do except look deluded and power mad) who is seeking ultimate control of the AI so he can use it for despicable reasons. Ethan winds up meeting with the president (Angela Bassett, classing and jazzing the whole film up) and she issues a drop-dead deadline for him to get the job done. That sets the clock tick-tocking toward doomsday, except director/co-screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie oddly doesn’t take full advantage of the tense scenario until a smashing finale, which features one of the best screen aerial sequences I’ve ever witnessed.
It’s intercut with another sweaty palm sequence involving a ticking clock — a staple in the series. Do those final moments make it worth the price of admission? When you add in the underwater sequence and snappish turn from “Severance” star Tramell Tillman, who brings needed dry humor to the somber proceedings as a sub commander, I’d say almost. But to get there you have to wade through too much gushing about Ethan and numbing expository storytelling. This “Mission: Impossible” entry sadly loses sight of its own main mission: to thrill and entertain, and it is the absence of that which makes it ultimately self-destruct. But Cruise undeniably deserves props for a job well done on this series and for those killer stunts. To save you the trouble, there’s no need to sit through the end credits; there is no surprise epilogue.
Contact Randy Myers at [email protected].
‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — FINAL RECKONING’
2 stars out of 4
Rating: PG-13 (fighting, killing, intense situations)
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Angela Bassett, Esai Morales
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Running time: 2 hours, 49 minutes
When & where: Opens May 23 in theaters nationwide
