You always have to say this for Tom Cruise: he’s all in on every movie he makes. He’s as devoted to movie making as he is to Scientology. You can’t question his devotion to a project.
So when “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning” was released, and was a disappointment, he and director Christopher McQuarrie had their work cut out for them. They’d already filmed a lot of the sequel, “Dead Reckoning Part II,” during the making of the first installment. They had to go back and change the title and story to fit the first but also make something grand.
The result is “Final Reckoning,” and you can sort of see bits of “Dead Reckoning Part II” floating around in the new version (particularly in Cruise’s face and hair). “FR” is almost three hours long, now encompassing lots of well edited clips from the first 7 “Mission Impossible” movies as Cruise and McQuarrie tie up all the loose ends from 35 years of story.
If you’re worried you can’t follow the story — and it is convoluted — I will allay your fears. The screenplay carefully explains everything in dialogue and flashbacks. That’s part of what makes this installment so long. If you forgot what happened to an off screen character suddenly mentioned, you’re handed the information in a neat package.
(I also liked that McQuarrie illustrates the exposition by showing what the Mission team will do before they do it, so we can try and follow along.)
As for that plot: “FR” continues the mind bending saga of “The Entity,” an artificial intelligence program gone rogue which will destroy the planet for no apparent reason unless Cruise’s Ethan Hunt can stop it. And we are continually reminded by everyone that “only Ethan” can save the world. The hero worship is anted up as high as possible. This is amazing since Ethan never eats, goes to the bathroom, or sits down. God bless him.
A lot is made of Cruise doing his own stunts, and how he faced certain death in the process. I don’t believe much of that, but it’s a great marketing line. I seriously doubt Cruise was ever in any danger of expiring. Can you imagine the blowback, the insurance costs, lawsuits? Paramount would be wrecked for all time.
Still, Cruise is remarkably agile for 62, and very determined. No matter how McQuarrie pulled off his insanely complex, dazzling set pieces they are each to be commended. “FR” cost 400 million and it looks it. You see every penny on the screen as the three hour film is really three one hour films stitched together. Ethan is high in the sky jumping from plane to plane, also 20,000 leagues beneath the sea, on an aircraft carrier, on an Indiana Jones quest, and so on. No opportunity for action is unexplored.
The underwater sequence, which has no dialogue and is almost a movie within the movie, will get the most attention. Ethan has to go to the bottom of the ocean to find an abandoned submarine that itself is in jeopardy of collapsing. There, he can insert a gold crucifix-like key that will shut down The Entity (I think, I’m not sure, it doesn’t matter).
This sequence is typical of them all. It’s simultaneously pulse pounding and ridiculous while looking stunning. If I were a kid, I’d want Ethan’s diving suit and mask. Very cool. But all reality is abandoned since no one could breathe that long under water except for Aquaman. After the successful key turn, that’s when things get out of hand. Ethan rips off the diving suit and swims, in his skivvies, from the bottom of the ocean to the top without any help. The audience I was with chuckled quite a bit.
If there’s one place where “FR” really falters it’s in the characters’ interpersonal relationships. Despite some flirtation, Ethan and Grace — the wonderful Hayley Atwell — never go beyond the eighth grade homecoming dance. Nothing. Also, no one mentions the death of Rebecca Ferguson’s much missed Ilsa Faust, from “Dead Reckoning” and previous chapters. When another major franchise character does die, there’s almost no acknowledgment of it by the other team members.
Nevetheless, the actors infuse as much as they can to make all of this seem reasonable. Angela Bassett as the president is quietly commanding. It’s a thrill to see Janet McTeer. The MI team — Atwell, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Pom Klementieff, even Esai Morales as Gabriel, the snarling villain — put their all into it. Tramell Tillman, from TV’s “Severance,” is outstanding.
As always, what drives “Mission Impossible” is the historic Lalo Schifrin theme. When the orchestra kicks, the tension doubles. Max Aruj and Alfie Godrey have added their own companion score to heighten the theme’s effect. Kudos to them.
Is the last “Mission Impossible” with Cruise? Never say never. But at 65 or 70 it might be a stretch for even him to lasso planets or do space walks (even though Cruise wants to shoot a movie in space). They’d be smart to stop here, and return to the TV show’s much more clever tricks with someone like Glen Powell.
In the 60s, “Mission Impossible,” the TV series, was a taut spy drama built to compete with the then new James Bond movies. It was never intended to be science fiction, as it has become, with vague indescribable monsters threatening the planet. But now it reeks of L. Ron Hubbard type confrontations that make it less plausible than ever. Still, “Mission: Impossible: Final Reckoning” is a fun respite from real life, and that’s really what every great action movie should be.
PS Everyone asks about the Rotten Tomatoes rating. With qualms, I’m rating it Fresh. The craftsmanship alone is worth it.
