The Final Reckoning, with all its startling ambition and scope, puts a dazzling display of stunt-work by Tom Cruise, applauds Mayur Sanap.
Oh, the joy of watching Mission Impossible films!
There’s boisterous fun to be had in these films which is essentially a vanity project of the highest order for its marquee star Tom Cruise who once admittedly said: ‘It all comes down to one thing: The audience.’
The opening credit slate of the latest entrant, The Final Reckoning, says, ‘A Tom Cruise Production’ which highlights the singular appeal of this franchise, much like the iconic circular stamp in S S Rajamouli’s movies that acknowledges his unique identity.
For this long-enduring, consistently dazzling action franchise, it is Tom Cruise who we really want to see, as he shoots, fights, bleeds, runs and performs death-defying stunts. And he has been doing this for nearly 30 years!
Fans of Mission Impossible know that the other half of its glorious title is never about the implausibility of the task at hand for our pièce de résistance action star. It is perhaps to hit the same brilliant heights and scope in its ambition that makes this such a prolific action series of its time.
We are now eight films deep into the Ethan Hunt saga and The Final Reckoning, which is essentially the second half of The Dead Reckoning Part One, offers a more personal look of its hero while teasing you with a this-is-the-end feeling.
As the continuation of earlier part, we jump right in where the prequel ended.
The all-knowing, super-powerful AI programme ‘The Entity’ is about to unleash global terror. Gabriel (Esai Morales) is on a hunt to grab the missing key to gain control over its powers.
It is up to Ethan Hunt and his specialised team to stop the evil plan before it leads to global devastation.
The story is yet again straight-forward and simple but can be overwhelming if you are not familiar with the earlier parts, especially the original trilogy and of course, The Dead Reckoning.
From a few old characters re-entering the picture to some heartfelt flashbacks, this one pays homage to its predecessors with plenty of hat-tips while meshing together the adventures of Ethan Hunt.
It feels like a nostalgia bet that many modern franchise movies are prone to but works because Director Christopher McQuarrie, who has also written the story, doesn’t render it to superfluous melodrama and treats the story with matter-of-factness. Even the usual scenes of wry humour (reserved for Simon Pegg’s scene-stealing character of the franchise, Benji) are muted as the overall tone remains rather sombre with grim undercurrents.
At one point, we see vivid imagery of nuclear war, including scenes of rockets launching and the Earth engulfed in flames, similar to a symbolic event that Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer imagines in the climax of the Christopher Nolan film.
But besides its big, daunting ideas, The Final Reckoning manages to make the mission personal to Ethan as the film finds ways to focus on his emotional relationships.
The chemistry between Cruise and Hayley Atwell’s luminous Grace is especially smouldering.
At one point, I almost expected him to break into Fast & Furious line ‘I don’t have friends, I got family’ in a true Dominic Toretto style. But, of course, The Final Reckoning plays with this standard trope with a lot more flair.
The only grip is the lack of any formidable villain as Esai Morales’ baddie doesn’t get much scope despite showing promise in the earlier part.
As the faceless enemy, we keep hearing how mysterious and dangerous the AI device is as characters sometimes over-explain the situation in a very annoying Tenet-esque exposition dump that just goes on for way too long.
These talky scenes add dramatic heft to the performances of the actors but the plot is inherently not that deep or complex, so what’s the need of this?
The film truly soars during the action set-pieces, which is among its signature pleasures.
The Final Reckoning, with all its startling ambition and scope, puts a dazzling display of stunt-work by Tom Cruise. He is the man who climbed the Burj Khalifa, biked off cliffs, flown helicopters and fighter jets, and this time, we see him gasping for breath underwater and then dangling from a plane high in the sky.
The episode in the submarine is especially so terrific that you can’t help being swept along by it, as you feel the excitement pounding throughout. You have to see it to believe it!
Finally, The Final Reckoning comes with a reminder that like all good things perhaps our time with Ethan Hunt is also coming to a close.
But it’s not done until Tom Cruise says it’s done.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Review Rediff Rating:
