On May 23, 2025, “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning” was released in theatres by Paramount Pictures. A sequel to “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One,” the “Final Reckoning” is the eighth and final installment of the “Mission Impossible” franchise. With the first film being released in 1996—with a budget of merely $80 million—the series has been airing for a period of nearly three decades, with the last film rumored to have a budget of around $400 million, making it one of the most expensive films ever produced. As much as I looked forward to this film being released, it saddened me greatly that this would be the end to the franchise that has been loved globally for decades—with myself being one of the biggest fans of “Mission Impossible” since a young age.
The plot of “Dead Reckoning Part One” is continued in this final film. Ethan Hunt and the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) are on the hunt for the Entity, a dangerous artificial intelligence (AI) technology with a mind of its own. The Entity is able to take control of nuclear weapons and national security defense systems at any time, which puts the world under the risk of complete obliteration. This artificial intelligence has the goal of building a new world from scratch– one where all is controlled by itself. The IMF’s goal is to capture the entity into a hard drive by attaching the Entity’s original source code (also known as the “podkova”) with the poison pill created by Luther, IMF’s computer expert. The poison pill is a malware designed to capture and corrupt the Entity once connected with its source code. The problem: the source code lies at the bottom of the ocean in an abandoned Russian submarine with no specific location, and the poison pill is in the hands of Gabriel—the Entity’s past human proxy and the other villain of the story.
Looking on the bright side, the IMF is in possession of a crucial object in this whole process: the crucifix key. The crucifix key is the only thing that can unlock the source code secured in the submarine. The plot of “Dead Reckoning Part One” was focused mainly on the IMF obtaining this specific key.
One of the most significant scenes in the film comes with Luther’s death. Luther has been a crucial character in the franchise since the first film of the series, as an expert coder and technician that has played a major role in resolving many of the missions the IMF has faced over the years. Gabriel is the one behind Luther’s death; Gabriel captures Luther in a cage, steals the poison pill, and leaves him with an explosive capable of blowing up a whole town. Ethan comes running to save Luther, but it is too late—the explosive is set to go off any minute, and there is no way out for Luther. Luther works to disarm a part of the explosive to minimize the impact of the explosion as much as possible, but ultimately decides to sacrifice himself in the process. He tells Ethan to leave him, but Ethan cannot take his feet off of the ground. Throughout every mission, Ethan’s priority has always been to keep his partners safe, especially after losing Ilsa Faust in their last mission, a special comrade he kept close to his heart. As an audience member who observed the character of Luther over the years, it felt extremely emotional to let this character go. Even until his very last moments, Luther expressed the trust and love he had for Ethan and the team. Luther’s legacy is an impactful one, and this was felt again at the end of the film when his recorded message for Ethan played from the poison pill.
Now, to the production of the film itself. Every single “Mission Impossible” film has given us action sequences and stunts never before seen in the history of cinema, and “the Final Reckoning” was truly the culmination of every single film before it, with absolutely mind blowing action sequences and stunts portrayed on camera. 100% real, no green screen and no computer-generated imagery (CGI). The underwater sequence was one of the most significant sequences in the whole film. Tom Cruise had to wear a specially designed underwater suit that weighed almost 100 pounds to film this underwater sequence, as well as crew members having to communicate through hand signals underwater. I deeply realized the extraordinary commitment and work it takes to not only be an actor in this series, but a director, stunt coordinator and any other staff member.
Another incredible sequence was the aerial sequence, where Tom Cruise had to cling onto the wing of a vintage biplane going at speeds up to 140 miles per hour and heights of 8,000 feet above the ground. This stunt sequence itself—filmed in South Africa for several months—took years to plan and coordinate before being brought to life. I was in absolute awe while watching this sequence unfold on the big screen, and it was the cherry on top that made “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning” one of the best action films that I have ever watched.
The film ends with Ethan Hunt successfully attaching the podkova to the poison pill in the nick of time, allowing Grace, a professional pickpocket part of the IMF, to cut the wire in the computer room and capture the Entity. Ethan always finds a way no matter what, as he did in every film before. A famous quote from the franchise that is repeated in Luther’s recorded message at the end of the film reads, “We live and die in the shadows, for those we hold close, and for those we never meet.” This quote sums up the work of the IMF, the sacrifices they have to make and the duty they uphold to keep the world together, all hidden from the public eye.
As for Tom Cruise, it truly feels as if he puts his life into crafting these films. I feel deeply the dedication he puts into creating these films for the audience, which allows me to respect him as an actor and filmmaker. Cruise and his team are setting the bar high for future action thrillers, and I know that “Mission Impossible” will be going down in history as one of the greatest action franchises of all time. I feel massively privileged to have seen this film on the big screen, and I can’t wait to see Cruise as a new character in whatever film he releases next.