Eighth film is an exhilarating send-off — if it’s really the final one

Ethan Hunt’s most unattainable mission but? Getting viewers to tear up on the finish of the eighth and presumably final “Mission: Impossible” movie, “The Final Reckoning.”

Our eyes have usually been large open in awe throughout this spectacle-driven 29-year film sequence, however hardly ever ever moist.

Nevertheless, when Ving Rhames’ Luther mentioned to Tom Cruise’s IMF agent, “The world still needs you,” I couldn’t assist however sniffle in settlement.

The “Mission: Impossible” franchise, whether or not kaput or persevering with (which would require loads of ka-ching), stays among the greatest motion flicks on the market.  

Sixty-two-year-old Cruise, extra of a highschool senior than a senior citizen, nonetheless sprints throughout London’s Westminster Bridge previous Massive Ben like he’s a flesh-and-bones missile. Simply as naturally, he charmingly cracks smart with the suave ease of Roger Moore. And behind the digicam as a producer, the person cares an important deal in regards to the high quality of those films, and it reveals within the fastidious particulars.

Working within the footsteps of the final two entries directed by Christopher McQuarrie, “Fallout” and “Dead Reckoning,” No. 8 is one other high-voltage, gargantuanly envisioned check of Cruise’s bodily limits. Solely this franchise could make wincing enjoyable. 

With each passing “M:I,” the query turns into much less “Will Ethan Hunt survive” than “Will Tom Cruise?”

“Final Reckoning’s” showcase stunt — Cruise climbing right into a biplane hundreds of ft within the air above South Africa after which piloting it as his windswept pores and skin appears to be like prefer it’s about to peel off — trumps something Marvel has completed in 17 years.

Earlier than that grand aerial finale, an underwater sequence in an deserted submarine doesn’t terrify your lungs fairly as a lot because the one in “Rogue Nation” did, nevertheless it’s nonetheless suspenseful and threatening as he dodges plunging particles that might crush him.

The hand-to-hand fight, athletic and humorous, finds new methods to tickle us, too. Throughout what’s a Planet Health member’s worst nightmare, a poor baddie’s face turns into acquainted with a shifting treadmill.

When Hayley Atwell’s reformed pickpocket Grace witnesses Ethan brutalize a thug — whereas we see her reactions and never the carnage — it’s gnarly and hilarious. Austin Powers-esque.

At two hours and 49 minutes — the sequence’ lengthiest runtime — “Final Reckoning” is simply too lengthy. That accounts for the lacking half a star. But as a result of it by no means catches its breath or lets its vitality degree drop a millimeter, the movie clips alongside.

It continues the place “Dead Reckoning” left off two years in the past, with Ethan and Co. needing a two-part key to destroy the Entity — an omnipotent synthetic intelligence being that has gained management over the world’s strongest international locations’ nukes.

It’s apt that “Mission: Impossible,” which is dedicated to tactile feats carried out by its recreation star as an alternative of pretend results, would make AI the villain.

The president (a in some way extra intense than traditional Angela Bassett) wants Hunt to cease it, whereas the federal government has points with the Inconceivable Mission Power’s unorthodox and sometimes harmful strategies.

The true key to having fun with the film, although, is to not suppose an excessive amount of in regards to the plot. When you do, your mind may retire and transfer to Boca Raton. That Ethan must swim to the underside of the Bering Sea to get better the Entity’s supply code after which co-mingle it with the two-part secret’s arduous to even sort.

The franchise’s method, when it’s executed in addition to it’s right here, is simply too successful for a knotty story to matter.

The ensemble of oddballs — Rhames, Simon Pegg’s neurotic Benji, Atwell’s obtrusive Grace, Henry Czerny’s Mojave-dry Kittridge and Esai Morales’ unhinged murderer Gabriel — are as rip-roaring firm as ever. The locales — London, Alaska, Africa — are escapist. And Cruise’s escalating feats, jaw-dropping.

So, is that this actually the tip?

“Final Reckoning” ties in a number of parts from the primary 1996 Brian De Palma film that counsel Hunt’s journey has come full circle. However McQuarrie and Cruise hold it fairly open-ended. For instance, a beloved character dies, however we don’t really watch it occur. John Wick may very well be decapitated within the subsequent sequel, and he’d nonetheless come again if it makes sufficient cash. 

Whereas going out on a excessive is the honorable factor to do, I’d be there for the ultimate, closing reckoning.