Tom Cruise reprises his role as the seemingly indestructible IMF agent Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth instalment in the franchise and a direct sequel to 2023’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the film also features Hayley Atwell, Angela Bassett, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, and Nick Offerman. ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ Movie Review: ‘Incredibly Bloated’ or ‘Love Letter to Fans’? First Reactions to Tom Cruise’s Eighth Film As Ethan Hunt Are Out – Here’s What We Learnt!

Following its world premiere in Tokyo on May 5, The Final Reckoning screened out of competition at the 78th Cannes Film Festival on May 14, receiving a five-minute standing ovation. With review embargoes now lifted, critical reactions have painted a mixed picture of the film.

The Verdict: A Bloated Yet Thrilling Finale?

At two hours and 49 minutes, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is criticised for feeling overlong, particularly in its first two acts, with forced nostalgic callbacks and a thinly written antagonist (Morales). Some plot issues from Dead Reckoning also persist.

Watch the Trailer of 'Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning':

However, the film delivers where it counts: Cruise remains in stellar form, the stunt sequences - especially in the third act - are jaw-dropping, and the ensemble cast shines.

What Critics Are Saying About 'Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning'

The Guardian says, "It is a wildly silly, wildly entertaining adventure which periodically gives us a greatest-hits flashback montage of the other seven films in the M:I canon - but we still get a brand new, box-fresh Tom-sprinting-along-the-street scene, without which it wouldn’t be M:I. Moreover, this eighth film gives us a terrific new character, US sub commander Capt Bledsoe, played with suavity and the tiniest hint of camp by Tramell Tillman (from TV’s Severance) who has the chops for M:I9 whenever that happens."

BBC says, "There are countless plot problems like this to get past before the film eventually reaches the one action sequence that viewers might want to rewatch, ie, the one on the poster, with Cruise clinging to a biplane in mid-air. As we're often told, Cruise does his own stunts – and he does them brilliantly – so if you love seeing his face being blasted out of shape by high-altitude, high-velocity winds, then you'll enjoy his latest feat of aerobatics."

RogerEbert.com says, "In between dropping Tom Cruise out of planes and hurling him off cliffs, there was a cheeky wink to the audience: We know this is ridiculous, you know this is ridiculous, but just make sure to keep your hands inside the car as the rollercoaster picks up speed while we put your favorite star in mortal jeopardy. By taking itself so seriously, “Final Reckoning” loses the cheeky ingredient in the recipe. It’s less fun, and that’s truly disappointing for a series that has given us some of the most fun in action history."

Vulture says, "The good news is that Final Reckoning does eventually recover from the calamity of its first hour to give us an entertaining, if still messy, Mission: Impossible movie. It achieves this by tuning out the broody chatter of its first act and giving us a lengthy, ingenious (and refreshingly silent) sequence inside a sunken submarine, a wreck whose unstable spot on the sea floor ensures that our hero will wind up bouncing and rolling around a room inconveniently filled with floating torpedoes." ‘Mission: Impossible’: From Ajay Devgn’s ‘Singham Returns’ to Shah Rukh Khan’s Dilwale, 5 Times Bollywood Copied Iconic Scenes From Tom Cruise’s Franchise (Watch Videos).

NY Times says, "There’s vanity in Cruise’s commitment to extremes, and perhaps mania - who knows? Whatever makes him tick and inspires him to keep pushing and testing his limits is an open question, if presumably less relevant to viewers than whether the movies are actually worth seeing. “Final Reckoning” is flat-out ridiculous, but it’s a model example of blockbuster entertainment at its most highly polished, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, despite its clichés, extravagant violence and gung-ho militarism."

Collider says, "As the presumed conclusion to at least this version of this franchise (it certainly feels that way), The Final Reckoning is stuffed, convoluted, and ludicrous at times. But it’s also mostly a great send-off to this universe, a deserved celebration for everything this series has accomplished, and one final (again, seemingly) showcase for Cruise as one of the greatest action stars of all time."

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning has received 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing this article based on the critics' reviews that have come out till now. The movie is releasing in India on May 17, and in USA on May 23.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 15, 2025 09:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).