FilmReview: “Mission:Impossible – The Final Reckoning”

• MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING
• Starring:  Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell and Simon Pegg
• Directed by:  Christopher McQuarrie
• Rated:  PG 13
• Running time:  2 hrs 49 mins
• Paramount

 Our score:  4.5 out of 5

I wonder how many of you remember the great stuntman Dar Robinson?  Robinson, along with Yakima Canut, Jean Coulter and the great Buster Keaton, who basically invented the concept, would make up the Mount Rushmore of stunt-workers, would do things no one else would even dare try.  If you’re seen the film “Sharky’s Machine,” you may remember the scene where a character doubled by Robinson went BACKWARDS out of a window of the Atlanta Hyatt Regency Hotel and, without a harness, fell 220 feet to the ground.  The year before, Robinson had jumped off the top of the CNN tower in Toronto.  I mention Mr. Robinson not only because of how he lived but sadly how he died.  While riding his motorcycle he accidentally hit the bike’s accelerator instead of the break and went off of a cliff.

Some well-known actors started their careers as stuntpeople, including Burt Reynolds, Jackie Chan and recent Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh.  Reversing that trend is Tom Cruise who, over the past four decades, has undertaken some of the most dangerous and jaw-dropping stunts ever captured on film, many of them while filming the “Mission: Impossible” film series.  And he tops them all in the latest chapter, “Final Reckoning.”

It’s been two years since we last met Ethan Hunt (Cruise) in “M:I – Dead Reckoning Part One.”  But in “film-time,” it’s only been a month.  Hunt is still on the trail of the mysterious Gabriel (Esai Morales), who has stolen a key needed to stop an A.I. type entity called, well, the Entity, from destroying the world as we know it by taking control of the nuclear arsenals of the world’s biggest superpowers.  Don’t believe me?  You could make a drinking game out of how many times “the fate of the world” is mentioned in this film.

Hunt attempts to assemble his usual team – Grace (Atwell), Benji (Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) who, despite their best intentions, continue to run into lies, deceit and double-crosses.  Will Ethan and his team succeed?  After all, “the fate of the world” hangs in the balance.

Jam-packed with action, “M:I – The Final Reckoning” actually opens with a montage of Ethan Hunts greatest hits, showcasing some of the amazing adventures from the previous films in the series.  Cruise, who in my opinion may be the last great movie star, once again commands the screen and his dedication to his work, both on-screen and behind it, shows.  In this age of loud movies full of action and explosions just for the sake of being loud and having explosions, Cruise and his co-stars stand out.  There is actually an emotional element in this film that many action films lack.

The various set-pieces are skillfully directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who has not only co-written and directed the last four films in this series but has worked with Cruise on many other projects, including “Jaeck Reacher” and “Top Gun: Maverick”  He also wrote the brilliant Oscar winning script for “The Usual Suspects.”  He fills the screen with action and makes sure that the audience senses every punch, every gunshot, ever drop of adrenaline.

If the film has one drawback it may be the length.  Like “Dead Reckoning – Part One,” this film is nearly three hours long.  Many of the action scenes are extended and I don’t think the film would have suffered with a little more trimming.

That being said, this film is ana amazing way to kick the summer off with a bang!  I definitely recommend that you accept this mission.

On a scale of zero to five, “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” receives ★★★★ ½