‘I’ ON CULTURE
Like many people, I was looking forward to Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. The MI series, starring Tom Cruise, has been going on for a couple of decades and always provides lots of spectacular action. This one is no different. There are plenty of wild and crazy things and a major threat to everyone in the world. This time, the threat seems particularly real, and there are more players than usual.
Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his ally Grace (Hayley Atwell) have been tasked with finding and destroying the Entity, an evil artificial intelligence that plans to take over all the nuclear arsenals in the world and sending off the missiles to destroy all of mankind. The Entity’s human sort-of ally Gabriel (Esai Morales) kidnaps Ethan and Grace and tasks them with finding the source code for the intelligence, tucked away on a missing submarine in the Arctic. Ethan brings his team: Grace, Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg), and recruits Gabriel’s former partner, assassin Paris (Pom Klementieff), as well as intelligence agent Theo (Greg Tarzan Davis) to assist. Confusing the issue, head of the CIA Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) is playing his own game, wanting to take over the Entity and use it control the world for America. American President Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett) puts her trust and hopes with Ethan, who only wants to destroy the evil AI. And the Entity controls a lot of people in a lot of places.
And the chase goes on, all around the world. There is a nuke in London, a trip to an aircraft carrier, an isolated island in the Bering Sea, a sunken sub and a very secure vault. There are spectacular stunts and plenty of twists and turns. Some exceptional characters are allowed to develop. Yes, there are some who come in and out and disappear. But most of the supporting players get a chance to really shine. All in all, it’s a great time.
Having an artificial intelligence as a villain is a great move. Human villains take on human qualities. The “bad guy” here has none. Gabriel does, of course, some of which help make him both more interesting and more vulnerable. As more of us begin to wonder what changes, particularly negative ones, will come from AI, this point really rings a bell.
The cast is exceptional. Cruise remains a great movie star, exemplifying an idealized version of a tough, caring man. His character, who has survived an incredible pounding through eight movies, still comes across as a human hero, not some augmented being. And, as producer, Cruise has been very sharp. The rest of the cast is exceptional, and most have played more complex roles. Here, they create indelible impressions, even if onscreen for a short time. Atwell is a very strong partner. Her skills as a thief and pickpocket are put to good use, and she plays as a strong counterweight to the usual testosterone dominance in these kinds of films.
The same can be said for Klementieff, no longer a crazed assassin. Bassett is very strong as the president. Rhames and Pegg have their moments and get a chance to really create great scenes. Morales has been an exceptional bad guy: charming, tough and really nasty. Czerny should also get a shout-out. He has been great in several of these films as the seemingly straight but really slimy bureaucrat. Rolf Saxon and Lucy Tulugarjuk are wonderful in small but vital parts.
The major problem in the film is its length. Some of the set scenes go on far too long. Underwater scenes with very little light seemed interminable. The ads on TV have shown a scene with Cruise dangling from an old-fashioned biplane. It’s great. But it went on and on. Yes, it was spectacular, but several scenes would have been helped by being shortened.
However, this is still a great “popcorn” movie. Lots of action and fun. And it should also be seen on a big screen. There are lots of details that add to the plot. Also, this may be the last of these movies. Cruise is now in his 60s, although you would never know it from the way he moves through incredible stunts.
This is one of those summer movies that you should see. And it is one you can take the kids and grandkids to see.
