One of the most expensive films ever made, "The Final Reckoning" is a masterpiece of blockbuster filmmaking that is as earnest as it is big. This is storytelling at its most complicated, and most difficult -- and most heartfelt.
OK, time to cancel me – I've always had a soft spot for the "Mission Impossible" Franchise.
Maybe it's Tom Cruise at peak performance. Maybe it's the convoluted Russian doll plot that always goes wrong so well, and fixes everything in the end. Maybe I simply get seduced by the badass-ery (I do also love The Fast and Furious Franchise, sue me!)
I do understand that it is a brilliant advertisement for the American Military - I know, I know. That's, like, Tom Cruise's whole thing. However, in recent installations, and by virtue of the premise of a rogue agent, the franchise has managed to make some pretty bold statements within the confines of it's partnership with the United States Government, about the United States Government.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in "Final Reckoning", where Hunt, one "last" time (we'll see), goes rogue with a team of reckless misfits to save the world. After the daring choice of spoilers for Part One having the AI win, it is now time to fight to get the world back.
The film doesn't need to linger too much on what's gone wrong – it's not interested in re-litigating (or recreating) the scenes we're often seeing in our real lives. Instead, it takes the approach of pure and unadulterated entertainment. With some of the largest and most complicated action sequences committed to camera, and the most well-structured and surprising story, McQuarrie has done it again, connoisseur of the spy thriller.
There is one scene, 20mins of cinema, that had me at the edge of my seat – Cruise vs a rolling Submarine. Absolutely breathtaking, and I can imagine, a nightmare to film.
Making films like this goes beyond artistry, and goes beyond technicality - this is science. From the page to the Edit and sound, nothing works unless everything works - and they pulled it off again this time, with enough resonant messages to leave me, Miss Woke Universe, majorly satisfied.
If I were to nitpick, this is a film that gives a ton of power to women, while still leaning on the romantic archetypes – I think I can allow it considering it's a welcome convention of the form, and the competency, fallibility and resilience of every Woman in the plot.
This is a film about there being no one god, in a world full of people who see themselves as gods. This is a film about uniting people and doing the right thing. If this ends up being Tom's final feature as Ethan Hunt, it's a hell of a way to go.
@obscurae