Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE - THE FINAL RECKONING came and went with little fanfare this past summer and it's not hard to understand why.  What is allegedly Tom Cruise's swan song in the role of Ethan Hunt is a big, bloated fizzle.   This sequel to 2023's ...DEAD RECKONING PART ONE spends two and one-half hours plus padding out a timely but poorly rendered plotline involving artificial intelligence.  Essentially the villain here is discussed rather than seen.  This doesn't work so well for a franchise that distinguishes itself with spectacular action sequences and malevolent bad guys.  Well, there is a figure named Gabriel, who was far more menacing in the first RECKONING.  He, like everyone else in this movie, now just seems tired.

Sad for Cruise to go out like this for what has proven a durable series.  Not every entry was stellar, but since GHOST PROTOCOL the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE films have cooked with gas, outdone competitors like the James Bond and Jason Bourne movies.  As with any of these, the plot should never been examined too closely.  But director Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen's screenplay is so colorless and cliched.  Never has the fate of mankind been so ineffectual.

You may recall from the previous film Ethan managed to get both parts of the all important key to the source code for the A.I. known as the Entity.  The one that has been gradually taking control of the world's nuclear systems.  Certainly fated to launch missiles and cause annihilation.  Gabriel (Esai Morales) - the Entity's former liaison - is at large and Ethan is chasing him around the globe. Ignoring the President's (Angela Bassett) demands that he hand over the key.  Will Mr. Hunt be able to thwart the Entity with malware developed by his IMF teammate Luther (Ving Rhames)? 

Need I answer? There will be many obstacles, implausible scrapes to overcome.  Things become so unlikely and unbelievable this time out I lost interest in the suspense.  I'm usually good at suspension of disbelief but it was all too much this time. For me it occurred when Ethan jumped off a fighter jet into the Pacific with no plans as to how to rendevous with his team.  Good thing the staff of the USS Ohio show up to rescue him.  It seemed reckless, but without the usual forethought contingnecy.  I know Ethan Hunt often wings it in these movies but geez....Then I just reminded myself what these movies are called.

There are two highly impressive set pieces.  The lengthy underwater mission to retrieve a module (which can control the Entity) from a sunken Russian submarine and the climactic biplane chase.  You can argue that both are protracted, in need of some more editing.  You cannot argue that they are damned impressive, even hypnotic.  

The rest of the movie? Well, the first hour plays like a recap, slow exposition we didn't really need.  Flashbacks that were welcome but maybe there were too many of them.  There are several dialogue scenes that looked painful for the actors to deliver.  More talk than action, honestly.  Emotional crescendoes are attempted but they just don't come off.  I'm not sure how McQuarrie and his team botched that.  Cruise is still physically able but looks like he's done.  Simon Pegg, as IMF tech agent Benji, likewise.  Hayley Atwell and Pom Klementieff have far less to do this time out. 

But THE FINAL RECKONING is still a good time.  Entertaining for spy thriller junkies.  Too bad that this movie feels more like filler programming for basic cable channels than the intended event.