POPZ-CULTURE Movie Reviews – Mission: Impossible – The final reckoning (2025)
By: Marton Szakadath
Genre: Action, adventure, thriller
Rated: 16
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Written by: Bruce Geller, Erik Jendresen, Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames
The latest instalment of the modern spy movie franchise has arrived. Ethan Hunt’s nearly 3-hour adventure is both a direct sequel to the last film and the conclusion to the entire cinematic series. To end nearly 30 years in a way worthy of the title is a huge undertaking, especially in light of the press coverage of every episode’s stunts of extreme recklessness. While there’s still no shortage of adrenaline-pumping images, The final reckoning is much more emotional.
The story revolves around defeating an artificial intelligence called the „Entity”. In the age of rapidly evolving language models, it was an obvious and interesting choice to choose the omniscient AI as the main villain. As IT systems and cybersecurity have played a major role in previous films, it fits in perfectly with the episodes so far. In fact, the film has a lot of flashbacks and surprises for viewers who have been following the series since its beginning. The rest of us are strongly advised to catch up with the prequels, because it’s easy to feel like a clueless stowaway on this nostalgia ride.
The latest Mission: Impossible is a stunningly spectacular, thrilling action film that has been brought to the big screen. It can deliver its ultimate experience only in the cinema. It’s exhilarating to hear the film’s iconic theme music, the familiar „this tape will self-destruct in five seconds” warning, and to see the astonishing action scenes. For the latter, we urge those who may be struggling with vertigo watch the final chapter with the right accompaniment. For us, it was a challenge, and we were truly terrified in our seats.
There were two closely related problems, which did not make us completely happy. The length of the running time and the lack of tension in the story took a lot of the fun out of the final result. 170 (!) minutes is a very long time, especially if the otherwise touching nostalgia and reminiscence of the past predominates instead of a meaningful plot. Understandable, since Cruise has been playing Agent Hunt for most of his career, but The final Reckoning is less intense than, say, The Phantom Protocol or Fallout. The finale, on the other hand, is guaranteed to put everyone on the edge of their seats.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is an excellent conclusion to a film series that has been running since 1996. Despite the fact that a full hour could have been cut from the finished material, and the flashbacks could bore us after a while, we had a good time overall. It’s not worth waiting until the streaming release, because you’re missing out on a real cinematic experience.
As a final thought, it occurred to us that the world of cinema would be a less prosperous place if the spy film genre was dominated solely by James Bond or Jack Ryan. No doubt Tom Cruise’s character is synonymous with the role of Ethan Hunt, but who could you imagine a reboot with? Your tips are welcome in the comments. Watch a lot of movies and series – and if you’re in the mood for a tasty snack, POPZ popcorn is the best choice.
