A parasitical AI enemy is about to overtake the world. Its name is the Entity. It has no face, no voice and no means of expression. The fact that world domination mandates the extermination of humankind is no deterrent. This malevolent force (which first appeared in Mission Impossible’s previous film Dead Reckoning Part One two years ago – just wants to take control whatever the cost, and so it remains unfazed by the prospect of ruling a completely empty and useless planet. Perhaps it inherited this irrational greed from its human creators.
The President of the United States (Angela Bassett) tasks Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) with saving us from the Entity. His 30 years of service at the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) have earned him an immaculate reputation. The Final Reckoning contains clips from the various Mission Impossible films, paying tribute to a franchise boasting eight instalments (the last four of which directed by 56-year-old American director Christopher McQuarrie). We briefly see sexagenarian Tom Cruise in his early 30s (in Brian de Palma’s original film, from 1996) all the way to the present.
What follows is the predictable MacGuffin silliness: Ethan must retrieve two “cruciform keys” from the Arctic, which will in turn lead him to the podkova (a hard drive containing information that will lead to the destruction of the Entity). The mysterious item, which is buried with a Russian submarine at the bottom of the sea, is then combined with Luther’s poison pill in order to destroy the enemy. Gabriel (Esai Morales) occasionally steps in as human antagonist, in cahoots with the elusive parasite. He engages with Cruise in the most dramatic fight scenes. It is not entirely clear why Gabriel wants to support an AI enemy hellbent on total destruction, in a confusing script anathema to coherence, and with more holes than Swiss cheese.
With an estimated budget of U$300 to 400 million, The Final Reckoning is one of the most expensive movies in cinema history: a real money-squandering mission. It takes nearly 30 minutes before the opening credits and the instantly recognisable tune are played, and the entire film lasts an interminable 165 minutes (roughly the same duration as Dead Reckoning Part One. Almost everything is extremely derivative. There are no clever twists (perhaps except for a false suicide attempt with a cyanide pill) and innovative action scenes. The adrenaline-inducing vibes of the iconic vault scene in De Palma’s film are completely absent. The closing action scene on a biplane is boring and uninspiring. Melatonin-inducing. This is a movie without a sense of irony, self-deprecation, humour and artfulness.
While imprinted with some liberal signifiers guaranteed to upset Donald Trump (such as DEI recruit Bassett taking on the role that belong to him), Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a deeply reactionary movie, and a crystal-clear example of cinema being misused as a dangerous geopolitical weapon. At one point, Potus spells out why the United States are the self-appointed guardians of the world: “We are the only nation with the arsenal big enough to destroy the Entity. We are the only nation with the power of choice”. The message isn’t even subtle. Other peoples and nations are represented mostly by stock characters: the reliable and anodyne Brit Benji (Simon Pegg), the useless French femme-fatale-turned-good-girl Paris (Pom Klementieff, delivering pointless one-liners exclusively in the language of Jean-Paul Sartre), the chubby funny Inuk wife (Lucy Tulugarjuk), and of course the mean Russian without any loved ones (or even a dog).
The flag of the genocidal state of Israel is repeatedly and prominently featured alongside those of the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia and China, for no apparent reason other than advertising the United States’s highly questionable geopolitical leanings. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning isn’t just a disingenuous and unambiguous statement on American hegemony, but also a monument to unbridled narcissism. Cruise’s looks represents a major asset, one that must be protected at all costs. Perhaps the net value of the 62-year-old superstar is greater than all humankind combined. His facial expressions remain as stiff as the ripped buttocks of his countless stunt doubles (featured several time on their black undies, be that on air, land or underwater).
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning premiered at the 78th edition of the Festival de Cannes, when this piece was originally written. In cinemas on Wednesday, May 21st. An experience as pleasant as sedation-free colonoscopy.
