“I need you to trust me. One last time.”
Tom Cruise: the man, the myth, the adrenaline-fueled force of nature. In a world that’s grown numb to spectacle, he somehow keeps finding new ways to defy physics, age, and cinematic expectations. In the final installment of the Mission: Impossible series – a franchise that’s been testing the word "impossible" for nearly three decades, Cruise once again straps on a parachute and launches himself into yet another high-stakes global catastrophe. But how worthy a farewell is it?
Rating: 3.5/5
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Pom Klementieff, Esai Morales, Angela Bassett
Sometimes I think cinema was invented just to watch Tom Cruise run in increasingly dramatic locations. This time, he’s sprinting against something more terrifying than all his past antagonists: the artificial intelligence known as The Entity, which is infiltrating all the nuclear arsenals around the globe, and it's up to him to stop the world from ceasing to exist.
The movie picks up right where Dead Reckoning Part One left off – retrieve the Podkova, a gadget which holds the source code and the fate of humanity from a sunken Russian submarine, and prevent the world from bombing itself out of existence. No pressure.
Hunt’s ever-loyal team is back for the mission, and they bring their A-game. Benji (Simon Pegg) – the franchise’s beloved goofball and Ethan's most loyal brother, Luther (Ving Rhames) – the tech wizard, Grace (Hayley Atwell) – the pickpocket-turned-partner-in-crime-turned-love interest, Paris (Pom Klementieff) – the French assassin and some old acquaintances and new companions to ensure the success of the almost impossible mission.
Because if there's one word that Ethan, or in fact even Cruise doesn't believe in, it's impossible. While Ethan Hunt is constantly risking his life for the ones he holds close, Tom Cruise does the same to keep the box office numbers soaring.
Image credit: William Bennett IV from Wikimedia Commons
At 62, most people are content conquering Sudoku. Tom Cruise, on the other hand, is conquering gravity. He delves into the action like an athlete in his prime.
But that doesn't come as a shocker to a single soul. And that's just scratching the surface of the simple stunts, well, simple in comparison to the other unimaginable feats of aerial maneuvers he has achieved in the film. His commitment to practical effects and real stunt work isn’t just impressive, it’s borderline masochistic. But oh, we’re so not complaining. He dangles from planes, he walks on wings, he leaps between vintage planes mid-air at 10,000 feet. Where does it end?
Ethan Hunt can hang off a moving aircraft, scale the world’s tallest building, ride motorcycles off cliffs, hold his breath underwater for more than 6 minutes, and save humanity too many times to count. But the question isn’t, what can’t Ethan Hunt do? It’s – what can't Tom Cruise do? Somewhere along the saga, Tom Cruise became synonymous with Ethan Hunt, morphing into his more lethal counterpart.
While the action is jaw-dropping, it's also stretched in some bits. The story sometimes stumbles under its own weight, and the pacing in the middle drags just a bit. There’s emotional depth, yes, but also a slight sense of déjà vu.
Haven’t we been here before? Haven’t we already watched Ethan Hunt risk it all for humanity while wrestling with loss and world-ending tech?
And maybe that’s the point.
Because Dead Reckoning Part Two isn’t just a movie. It’s a eulogy. Not for Ethan Hunt, but for a cinematic era. It’s a love letter to fans who’ve stuck around since the beginning, through the latex masks, the impossible stunts, and the many countdown timers.
This final chapter doesn’t outdo every previous film, but it doesn’t have to. It’s here to land the plane (or motorcycle, or helicopter, or whatever other unsafe vehicle there is) gracefully. And in that, it succeeds.
Image Credit: Eva Rinaldi from Wikimedia Commons
As a die-hard fan of the Mission: Impossible movies, I'll admit I went in with an exorbitant amount of expectations from the 8th part, the final goodbye marking the end of this incredible franchise. And while the movie may not have been able to meet or exceed every single expectation, it delivered something rarer: a reminder of why I fell in love with the franchise in the first place – the sheer audacity of it all.
The movie stands as a tribute to Tom Cruise’s unflinching willpower, insane strength, ability to never miss, and willingness to gamble with death. The man proves once again that he cannot be bound to the word "human". And it's a mesmerizing sight to witness.
For the fans, the theatres are waiting. One last time, to watch the impossible on the big screen.
