SPOILERS ALERT!!!

Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

It’s time to talk about ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’, starring Tom Cruise. This is the latest instalment in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ film series. I’ve seen it twice at cinemas – on Saturday the 24th and on Spring Bank Holiday Monday (the 26th of May).

It’s funny to talk about ‘The Final Reckoning’. Back in 2023 when I saw ‘Dead Reckoning: Part One’ at the cinema, many of us, including me, assumed the second part of the two-part double bill ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie would be shown the following year in 2024. 😐

Sadly, that didn’t happen due to the SAG-AFTRA strike occurring from July to November 2023. But I’m glad the second film came out this year, as I wanted to find out what would occur in the final instalment of the two-part story involving the deadly AI called the Entity.

Personally, I would have kept this film’s title as ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part Two’ to maintain the consistency of everything in the film series. Despite that, I have at least two films each to do full in-depth reviews on. I don’t need to review them as one.

When I reviewed ‘Dead Reckoning – Part One’ back in 2023, I did say that I didn’t find it an entirely satisfying film. Over the years, that film has grown on me. I’ve enjoyed it more on multiple watches compared to first viewing it at the cinema, and it’s better than other films. 🙂

My main issue with ‘Dead Reckoning – Part One’ was the way Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust was killed off in that film. I would’ve kept her in both ‘Dead Reckoning’ films instead of one. And yes, Ilsa Faust doesn’t return in ‘The Final Reckoning’, as she’s definitely dead.

This is to highlight the threat of the Entity as an enemy in the two films. It’s reinforced again in ‘The Final Reckoning’, as, sadly, Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell gets killed off in the film. It was sad to see this happen, especially as Luther got killed off early in the film.

But at least Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt gets to have a final scene with Luther before he gets killed off, and at least Luther’s presence is felt throughout. This is especially in flashback scenes featuring Luther before his death and in a recorded message by the film’s end.

Tom Cruise continues to be excellent as Ethan Hunt, and you can tell how incredibly enthusiastic he is as an actor and as a filmmaker. I greatly appreciate Tom Cruise’s message of welcome before the film began since he thanked us for coming to see the movie.

The film’s cast also includes Hayley Atwell who returns as Grace, and Simon Pegg who returns as Benji Dunn. Esasi Morales returns as Gabriel, the film’s villain who wants to control the Entity. He’s a nasty piece of work, especially in the exciting Tiger Moth planes scene.

Pom Klementieff returns as Paris, who becomes Ethan’s ally after being betrayed by Gabriel. Paris speaks mostly in French whilst everyone else speaks in English. I’m very glad she understood everybody in English whilst everyone else understood her in French.

Henry Czerny returns as Eugene Kittridge, who was a former director of the IMF in the first film and is now the director of the CIA. Kittridge does ruin things for Ethan in his plans to stop the Entity. Plus, Kittridge doesn’t even thank Ethan for saving the world by the end. 😐

Angela Bassett, who was the CIA director in ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’, returns as the President of the United States in this film. Interesting she got that position. I wonder how that happened. It isn’t explained in that time between ‘Fallout’ and ‘The Final Reckoning’.

There’s Holt McCallany as Serling Bernstein, the Secretary of Defense, Janet McTeer as Walters, the Secretary of State, Nick Offerman as General Sydney, Hannah Waddingham as Rear Admiral Neely, and Tramell Tillman as Captain Bledsoe of the submarine Ohio. 🙂

Shea Whingham returns as Jasper Briggs, or as it turns out, his real name is Jim Phelps Jr. and he’s the son of Jim Phelps (as played by Jon Voight in the first ‘Mission: Impossible’ film). Greg Tarzan Davis returns as Theo Degas and gets to join Ethan’s team in the movie.

Charles Parnell returns as Richards, the DNI and head of the NRO, and Mark Gatiss (Yes, he’s back in this :D) returns as Angstrom, the head of the NSA. I’m surprised that Rob Delaney and Indira Varma didn’t get to return in this movie, as I did expect them to return.

Rolf Saxon returns as William Donloe, a former CIA analyst who was in the first ‘Mission: Impossible’ film. I didn’t realise it was him until much later, since he now has a beard in the film. I’m grateful for the flashback scenes from the first film to remind us of who he is.

There’s also Lucy Tulugarjuk as Tapessa, Donloe’s wife, Katy O’Brain as US Navy diver Kodiak, Stephen Oyoung as US Navy diver Pills, Pasha D. Lychnikoff as Captain Koltsov and Tommie Earl Jenkins as Colonel Burdick. All cast members are excellent in this film. 🙂

I like the links to previous ‘M:I’ films , especially when we get to see clips of previous films depicted as flashbacks. I’m pleased about the link between the Entity and the Rabbit’s Foot from ‘Mission: Impossible III’. I’m glad that plot thread has finally been resolved in this film.

‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ has been an exciting and very satisfying conclusion to the two-part story involving the Entity. I’m pleased I’ve seen this film twice at cinemas, and no doubt I’ll be seeing it again along with ‘Dead Reckoning – Part One’.

I don’t know if this is the actual end of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ film series. If there’s going to be another set of ‘Mission: Impossible’ films in future, I’ll look forward to seeing them at the cinema. At present, I’m looking forward to when the third ‘Top Gun’ film comes out. 😀

Stay tuned for my in-depth reviews on ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One’ and ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ sometime soon in the future.

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂