Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning Part 2 (aka, M:I 8) picks up where Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 left off in 2023 (you can read my review here). An Artificial Intelligence called The Entity is taking over the world and nation-states are powerless to stop it. President of the United States Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett) offers Ethan Hunt (aka, Tom Cruise) an Impossible Mission: Stop the AI from taking over all the nuclear installations in the world and firing those nuclear missiles to wipe out humanity.
Of course, in true Mission Impossible fashion, Hunt builds a team to help him stop the deadly AI. My favorite is Grace (Hayley Atwell, aka “Agent Carter”) whose impressive skills at picking pockets plays a key role in this impossible mission. Simon Pegg is back playing tech-guy Benji Dunn and Ving Rhames returns as Luther Stickell, resident genius. I’m fond of Pom Klementieff as Paris–“I kill people.”
And to spice things up, Hannah Waddingham (aka, Rebecca Welton of Ted Lasso) plays Admiral Neely who commands an air-craft carrier. But with a running time of 2 hours and 50 minutes, be prepared for some scenes to drag.
As usual, Tom Cruise performs some incredible stunts–and takes a lot of punishment. There’s a long underwater sequence. There’s an eye-popping bi-plane gymnastics free-for-all. If you’re in the mood for a long, rambling action movie, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning Part 2 fits the bill. Just set the bar low. The first Tom Cruise Mission Impossible came out in 1996. Now 29 years later, this franchise just might be over. GRADE: B
I’ve never loved them, but have mostly enjoyed those I’ve seen. Not a lot of genuine surprises.
I’ve watched most of them, but meh. All flash-bang and little else. Each film in the series has seemed like an ego trip for Cruise, who needs to inflate his ego just about as much as I need to put on a few more pounds. The series has always left a slight bad feeling in my mouth ever since the first one, where they trashed the original concept by [SPOILER ALERT!] making Jim Phelps the bad guy — something akin to making the Lone Ranger the secret head of the Butch Cavendish Gang. And, although I like many of Cruise’s films, I admit to a certain antipathy toward the actor himself; he’s just not the type of person I would want anyone in my family to model.