The Mission: Impossible films have been an iconic film franchise since the original in 1996. Even if the stories weren’t always the best, they always delivered high-octane action scenes and intense espionage, with leading star Tom Cruise performing most of his own stunts. The iconic theme song is one of cinema’s most recognised tunes, taken from the original 1966 television series it was based on. Now in 2025, the eighth and final film directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, is looking to leave its mark in cinema history.

Ethan Hunt and the IMF team continue searching for the terrifying AI known as the Entity, which has infiltrated intelligence networks all over the globe, with the world’s governments and a mysterious ghost from Ethan’s past on their trail. Joined by new allies and armed with the means to shut the Entity down for good, Hunt is in a race against time to prevent the world as we know it from changing forever.

Tom Cruise returns to his signature role as Ethan Hunt for the final time, still looking great for a man in his early 60s. It feels like he hasn’t missed a beat and delivers the same intensity with his performance. He’s shown to have a good sense of humour but gets serious when the situation calls for it. His acting skills add so much depth to the character, and he is very convincing when he threatens to take his own life instead of giving information to the enemy while being interrogated.

This film is the second of the two-part conclusion, with the first being Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One; it features a returning cast including Hayley Atwell as Grace, Greg Tarzan Davis as Degas, Pom Klementieff as Paris, Cary Elwes as Denlinger and Esai Morales as Gabriel to name a few.

Also returning are Simon Pegg returns as Benji Dunn, who has portrayed the character since Mission: Impossible III in 2006, and Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, who has appeared in every film since the original, like Tom Cruise.

The biggest return amongst the cast is Rolf Saxon as William Donloe, who many may remember from the original film during the famous hacking scene. His role shows the well-thought-out long-term storytelling of the film series by explaining what he’s been up to since Ethan snuck into the highly secure facility and how everything came full circle. Seeing this character portrayed by the same actor delivers great fan service to those following the films since the beginning 29 years ago.

The latest film features many callbacks to every past film and how they all lead to the final film. Seeing flashbacks will bring back many fond memories, a great way to close out the long-running film series. The overall story is certainly interesting, with the main villain being artificial intelligence, but with the film being 2 hours and 50 minutes long, it can get overly convoluted.

It makes sense to have the final film of the series go out in a big way, and other movies around 3 hours long have managed to make great use of that time, but unfortunately, the final Mission: Impossible film feels it struggles to fill in that time with its long dialogue scenes that tend to drag.

The dialogue is necessary to explain the plot, but the film could cut back about 30 to 60 minutes because, in this case, less is more. The action scenes are the main reason to watch a Mission: Impossible movie; plenty is here. With the latest film taking a more serious tone, it adds more intensity to the action, and Tom Cruise performs most of his stunts, one of the biggest reasons to watch Mission: Impossible or any of his action films.

Not only are the action scenes exciting and have audiences on the edge of their seats, but some of them can also be scary to watch, especially for those who experiencehydrophobia, claustrophobia, and vertigo. While the story may not hold your interest for the entire film, the action scenes will undoubtedly have your eyes glued to the screen.

Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey composed the film’s score with something for every occasion. Even moments of silence can still illustrate the emotion of the scene. Of course, the iconic Mission: Impossible theme song by Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin is featured in the opening and closing credits, bringing nostalgia from the original 1966 television series.

The final Mission: Impossible film may not be perfect, but it still serves as an epic sendoff and farewell to an iconic, long-running film series and one of Tom Cruise’s iconic roles. The action scenes are filled with intensity and emotion, which is why I saw this film, and while the dialogue could’ve been reduced, they still do a great job of adding urgency and excitement to the action. The returning cast is a delight to see, and the callbacks to all the past films in its 29-year history deliver some fantastic fan service.

It’s unknown if this is the final film of the Mission: Impossible series, as there have been many rumours and conflicting reports. A reboot could happen, or it could be continued with a new protagonist, but only time will tell. Until then, Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning goes out in a blaze of glory and is a fitting farewell to Ethan Hunt and this run of the Mission: Impossible films.

Written by: Sammy Hanson