The reviews are in for Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (via ActioNewz.com), but is this a worthy conclusion to Tom Cruise's nearly three-decade run as IMF agent Ethan Hunt?
It seems the answer to that question is yes and no. The action sounds phenomenal, but the story appears to be a little too jam-packed—you might want to rewatch the previous instalments before heading to theaters for this one—with a villain who fails to reach the high bar set by his predecessors.
Cruise, however, is receiving plenty of praise, and for longtime Mission fans, it seems The Final Reckoning is a win (for the most part, at least).
The Hollywood Reporter calls the movie "dull" and adds, "If it’s going to be the last we see of one of the most consistently entertaining franchises to come out of Hollywood in the past few decades...it’s a disappointing farewell with a handful of high points courtesy of the indefatigable lead actor."
"In 'The Final Reckoning,' [Tom Cruise is] more than just the top gun of danger junkies," writes Variety. "He has turned the spectacle of doing his own stunts into a popcorn art form." Deadline notes that the movie "[wraps] up seven films' worth of storylines with a showman’s flourish. What it doesn’t do, though, is rule out another."
Empire concludes, "A tense, knotty opening act yields to some of Tom Cruise’s most impressive stunts yet, ending the film — and perhaps the series — on a high." As for Total Film, the site explains, "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning brings both the Dead Reckoning storyline and the franchise as a whole to a satisfying close. As ever, Cruise is in peak condition, front and centre amid some looney stuntwork. If only his antagonist Gabriel was a more worthy opponent."
Entertainment Weekly calls The Final Reckoning "equally baffling and awesome," and IGN states, "While its action is reliably thrilling and a few of its most exciting sequences are sure to hold up through the years, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning tries to deal with no less than the end of every living thing on the planet – and suffers because of it."
Finally, io9 shares, "The two big scenes are excellent, everyone in the cast seems very happy to be there, but the misplaced mix of nostalgia and narrative left us feeling like the next impossible mission for this franchise should be a fresh start."
The reviews come across as mixed, with many pointing out that the marketing campaign promoting this as a No Time to Die-style conclusion was more than a little misleading. It's no secret that Cruise clashed with Paramount when the decision was made to head down that route after Dead Reckoning underperformed.
Despite that, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning has arrived on Rotten Tomatoes with an impressive 88% score based on 91 reviews. It will be interesting to see how that score changes as more critics see the movie over the next week or so. It's already "Certified Fresh."
"Our lives are the sum of our choices. Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning," reads the brief synopsis for the movie.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning stars Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Angela Bassett, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, and Frederick Schmidt.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning arrives in theaters on May 23, 2025.