FILM REVIEW: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING (12A) ESP RATING: 4/5

Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible franchise goes out with an exhilarating bang.

After a slow and methodical – fan service-laden – opening, the last hour is arguably one of the most intense in Hollywood blockbuster history.

Cue Cruise’s super spy Ethan Hunt for jaw-dropping action sequences – an ice cold deep sea submarine dive, then a sky high bi-plane battle. This is gripping stuff with Cruise on top ‘action man’ form.

After retrieving the source code key for the malevolent artificial intelligence known as the ‘Entity’, Hunt and his IMF team – Grace (Hayley Atwell), Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames), and now including Pom Klementieff’s French assassin Paris and Greg Tarzan Davis’ US intelligence agent Theo – are on the trail of the Entity’s liaison, the deadly Gabriel (Esai Morales). 

With the globe on the cusp of a nuclear disaster, Hunt enlists the help of the US government – which involves the likes of President, Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett), and former director of the IMF, Eugene Kitteridge (Henry Czerny) – as it becomes a race-against-time to locate the sunken Russian submarine the Sevastopol (seen at the start of Dead Reckoning) which houses the main module to destroying the Entity. 

The only problem is Gabriel has the ‘poison pill’ – the other component to completely eradicating it – which he is retaining as a bargaining chip, so he can claim full power of the Entity for himself, and control the world.

And while arguably this eighth instalment isn’t quite the best in the franchise (that accolade probably still goes to Fallout), mainly due to its slightly-bloated runtime and over-reliance on tying up ‘loose ends’ – note great reference to the ‘Rabbit Foot’ from the underrated Mission: Impossible III as one welcomed addition – the high-octane last hour absolutely makes it a must-see for any action movie, Tom Cruise or Mission: Impossible fan. Any or all three would suffice.

If this really is the end for Hunt – then take a bow Mr Cruise – as this is a truly worthy franchise ‘capper’ with the series satisfyingly going full circle. 

This is one final mission that any movie buff should absolutely accept... 

ESP RATING: 4/5

Gavin Miller

Odeon Luxe Peterborough & Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough, Out Now

Cast: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Greg Tarzan Davis, Angela Bassett, Shea Whigham & Rolf Saxon

Running Time: 2 Hrs 50 Mins

Director: Christopher Mcquarrie

Film Review Venue: Odeon Luxe Imax Peterborough