On one hand, reviewing a "Mission Impossible" flick boils down to whether its share of wild stunts performed by a no-holds-barred movie star are truly astounding. They are the cat's pajamas. Is the plot still somewhat inconsequential? No more than the average James Bond flicks, pre-Daniel Craig. Is the 62-year-old Tom Cruise still convincing as an athletic Ethan Hunt? Yes, indeed.
"The Final Reckoning" continues the story of its predecessor, "Dead Reckoning," and I admit that "Dead Reckoning" had a cumbersome, dull opening despite featuring an essential plot element - the sinking of the Sevastopol submarine, which sets the story in motion about the deadly AI system known as the Entity. I found the Entity wanting at best, not the most thrilling aspect of these two back-to-back movies and yet, here, its spiral design with a blue eye in the middle can make one feel a bit discombobulated in an IMAX movie screen (it is somewhat hypnotic). Somehow, its design and its voice don't thrill me much but it is clearly a deadly antagonist that went rogue and can corrupt cyber-security and launch nuclear codes. Sentient, much? In "The Final Reckoning," Ethan Hunt must acquire the Source Code in the Bering Sea where the Sevastopol is located, wearing a decompression diving suit in one of the movie's most literally breathless sequences. A little description of this sequence: Ethan enters the dormant sub, turns it back on and swims through one cylindrical door after another until he acquires the Source Code. Getting out proves almost impossible until he does and, even then, you are not sure if he will survive.
If you see this seventh sequel in the franchise without seeing "Dead Reckoning," you'll still be thrilled but you will not have an inkling of what the heck is going on. "Final Reckoning" does a decent job of regurgitating the original film's plot which leaves this movie with not much development, plot-wise (Ethan has to hold on to the cruciform keys, there is a "poison pill" to undo the Entity, etc), though bringing back the sparkling elegance of Angela Bassett as Madame President is a class act in my book. Her demeanor when she realizes she may have to launch a nuclear attack, potentially killing millions of innocent lives to save billions, is powerful and very moving stuff (the President has to make hasty decisions with everyone in the same room from the General to the Chiefs of Staff to character actor Holt McCallany as an argumentative Secretary of Defense, all perspiring overtime). Henceforth, let us not leave out the appreciated return of ex-CIA analyst Donloe (Rolf Saxon), from the original "Mission Impossible" film, as he is depicted living out his days married to a quick-witted Inuit in St. Matthew's Island and knows the coordinates to the Sevastopol from memory! There is also the dynamic presence of the assassin with a semi-heart of gold, Paris (Pom Klementieff), who in one heart-stopping scene has to perform surgery on the injured Benji (Simon Pegg) and she delivers a great line, "I kill people."
Tom Cruise slides in and out of this movie with his own grace and panache, not looking like he's in his 60's at all, and showing all the urgency in the world (he runs a lot more than usual which makes my 54-year-old ass want to learn to run just as quickly). It is also a welcome sight to see Hayley Atwell back as the master thief Grace and you just wish she got to kiss Ethan, just once. Despite some clunky moments and the far too brief return of Esai Morales as villainous Gabriel and a slightly overlong runtime, this "Mission Impossible" flick has everything you might expect and it is quite incendiary at its core. The plane stunt is almost as good as the fiery helicopter finale in "Fallout." This Mission looks like it is the final hurrah but with Ethan's new brand of colorful allies, I highly doubt it.
