After the last episode of this series, which I thought was one of the greatest action movies I have ever seen and rated it four stars, I expected greatness from this one, a film which may mark the end of Tom Cruise’s involvement with a character and series which has spanned almost thirty years.  It certainly has the scale of an epic tale; in fact, it plays much like a James Bond film, only with wilder stunts and much more gravitas.  The problem is the gravitas, which renders the whole thing fairly silly.

Christopher McQuarrie’s film finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team (Impossible Missions Force) having to locate and procure a device from a disabled submarine in the Arctic in order to infiltrate and destroy a sentient Artificial Intelligence known as The Entity, which is actively infiltrating and taking over the world’s nuclear forces, after which it will destroy humanity.  Got that?  The stakes could not be higher and only Ethan Hunt can save the world.

With such high aspirations, how can a story possibly fulfill them?  This one certainly tries, taking nearly three hours to follow Ethan and his team across the world.  The locations are cool, the action is beautifully staged, the stunts are amazing.  But the whole thing is a McGuffin.  It’s Tom Cruise in hero mode; how can he be defeated?  This movie plays like a James Bond film on steroids, with a grim president (Angela Bassett) risking everything on a man she doesn’t trust, her own staff ready to revolt, while others are hell-bent on allowing the Entity to end our corrupt existence and start all over again with a clean slate.  The movie wants us to take this all seriously, and while that works up to a point, it is, ultimately, an impossible ask.

The last one, Dead Reckoning Part One, at least was adventurous and embraced fun along the way, providing a truly wild ride yet sharing its joy with the audience.  This final episode, with its final new title, is so full of itself that it is difficult to really enjoy.  Yes, it is beautifully made, and perhaps it would benefit from repeat viewings, yet it’s all a bit much.  It doesn’t help from my perspective that the mission is truly impossible and no team, no matter how well trained, could possibly have done what is done in this kooky story, which is so specific with its “podkova” and its “poison pill” that its immaculate timing that it leaves believability far behind.  All that said, I do actually admire how it was made, how it fits together, how it ends this rather ridiculous premise almost three decades in the making.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  23 June 2025.