Dir/Wri: Christopher McQuarrie & others | Action thriller 2025. 169′
For my money the most significant thing about this blockbuster franchise is still the soundtrack and the indifaticable hero Tom Cruise, still fit to go despite his increasing years that somehow add to his allure and add gravity to his character Ethan Hunt, an agent of the Impossible Mission Force.
The series is known for its thrilling action sequences and complex plots and the latest doesn’t disappoint on the technical level but the over talkie cyber-speak that dominates the first act (please don’t say, it show it) and the over-complex plot line will go over most people’s heads – it did mine – and it certain detracts from the enjoyment of what is at the end of the day a mainstream crowd-pleaser for all audiences rather than an intellectual exercise in geopolitical derring-do – albeit with a message of hope that will take the vehicle forward for another adventure, but not take itself too seriously.
Premiering at CANNES FILM FESTIVAL on 14th May Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, is set to be released on May 23, 2025. Starring alongside Cruise in this latest endeavour are British duo Hayley Atwell and Simon Pegg joined by Angela Bassett, Ving Rhames, Esai Morales with Christopher McQuarrie at the helm in this sequel to 2023’s Dead Reckoning.
There are two notable stunt sequences worth turning up to the cinema for – if you can bear to sit for almost three hours: the first has Cruise on a complex undersea sortie involving a sunken Russian submarine, the other sees him simultaneously manhandling two biplanes 10,000 feet above a seriously scenic gorge – not unlike the Grand Canyon – somewhere in South Africa.
There are also notable sequences in London’s Trafalgar Square, although the extended finale is exceedingly cheesy. ‘Going forward’, Mission needs to realise that the audience are there to be entertained with fabulous images and set pieces, not complicated dialogue sequences. And a bit more humour would be much appreciated too. @MeredithTaylor
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2025 | OUT OF COMPETITION 2025