Good morning. It’s Saturday, and I’ve already had a moderately busy morning. I already went out and got an hour-long walk in. DJ, play that music. It seems like a good morning for some Rush – Tom Sawyer.

Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Well, folks, we’ve reached the end of the road—or have we? Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has arrived, and after nearly three decades of watching Tom Cruise defy physics, gravity, and common sense, we’re left with a film that’s… well, let’s just say it’s complicated.

The Good (Yes, There Is Some)

Before we dive into the deep end of disappointment, let’s acknowledge what works. When The Final Reckoning finally gets its act together in the second half, it delivers some genuinely spectacular action sequences. The underwater sequence and biplane chase are jaw-dropping examples of why this franchise remains the gold standard for practical stunts. Tom Cruise, bless his death-defying heart, continues to risk life and limb for our entertainment, and the results are undeniably impressive.

The film also provides a genuinely emotional farewell to Luther Stickell, with Ving Rhames delivering his final performance as the heart and soul of the IMF team. It’s a poignant moment that adds real stakes to the proceedings.

The Bad (Oh Boy, Where Do We Start?)

A Runtime That Feels Like a Mission: Impossible

At 2 hours and 50 minutes, The Final Reckoning is the longest film in the franchise. Would that be fine if every minute was packed with thrills? Absolutely. But here’s the kicker: the first half of the movie is significantly slower than the second half, with critics noting that “we have to wait out roughly half the almost three-hour movie for much of the exhilarating action”.

That’s right—you’ll spend approximately 90 minutes waiting for the movie to remember it’s supposed to be an action blockbuster. It’s like ordering a five-course meal and being served breadsticks for the first three courses.

The Villain Problem: AI, Really?

Let’s address the elephant in the room—or should I say, the artificial intelligence in the server farm? After giving us memorable human antagonists like Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Owen Davian and Sean Harris’s Solomon Lane, the franchise has pivoted to… a faceless AI called “The Entity.”

That capture scene of Solomon Lane is still one of the best ever. “Mr. Lane. Meet the IMF.”

Gabriel, portrayed by Esai Morales, acts as the AI’s human puppet, but critics argue he “fails to live up to the franchise’s most memorable villains” and is “ultimately a letdown.” This is especially disappointing because “Gabriel appeared to be positioned as having significant and chilling ties to Ethan’s past,” yet these connections were largely underutilized. Have we really reached a point of such creative stagnation that our primary antagonist is reduced to an “evil computer”? It exudes a strong sense of “we’ve run out of compelling human villains.”

Death by Exposition

The film suffers from what can only be described as exposition poisoning[5]. Instead of the sleek, efficient storytelling that made earlier entries so compelling, we’re treated to “far too many flashbacks and exposition-filled scenes”. The movie becomes so obsessed with explaining its own mythology that it forgets to be entertaining.

Critics noted that “including too much exposition and boring dialogue is another reason why The Final Reckoning’s first half feels so much slower than the second half”. When your action movie needs a PowerPoint presentation to explain what’s happening, you might have a problem.

The Fun Factor: Missing in Action

Perhaps most damaging is that “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is simply not as fun as the last few movies in the series”. The franchise has always balanced high-stakes action with a sense of playful impossibility, but this entry takes itself so seriously that it sucks the joy out of the proceedings. One critic noted it’s “the least fun entry in the entire series”.

The film’s dystopian tone might be thematically appropriate, but it comes at the cost of the charm and wit that made these movies special. When even Tom Cruise running looks joyless, you know you’ve gone too far.

Action Starvation

For a franchise built on incredible set pieces, The Final Reckoning is surprisingly stingy with the goods. The film “only includes two” notable action sequences compared to other recent Mission: Impossible movies that “all include many notable set pieces”. When your action franchise has an action drought, that’s not just a problem—it’s a mission failure.

The Verdict

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning isn’t a disaster, but it’s a clear step backward for a franchise that seemed incapable of making a wrong move. The spectacular final act can’t quite compensate for the slog that precedes it, and the decision to replace human villainy with artificial intelligence feels like a creative surrender.

As one critic perfectly summarized: “It’s less fun, and that’s truly disappointing for a series that has given us some of the most fun in action history”.

Maybe it’s time for Ethan Hunt to actually retire—or at least take a very long vacation while the writers figure out how to make impossible missions feel possible again.

Rating: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to wait for the second half. This blog post will self-destruct in disappointment.