The Stream: At more than 2 and a half hours, it’s too long with a lot of exposition.

The Big Screen: Stunts, Stunts, and More Stunts!

The Final Bill: Despite explaining the complicated mission, this movie brings the action, stunts, and excitement you expect from Ethan Hunt.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writers: Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen
Stars: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Tramell Tillman, Angela Bassett
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and action, bloody images, and brief language.
Runtime: 2 hours 42 minutes
Production Companies: Paramount Pictures, Skydance Media, TC Productions, Truenorth Productions
Platform: In theaters May 23, 2025
Notable Trailers: Ballerina, Predator: Badlands, Caught Stealing, F1, Jurassic World Rebirth, Smurfs, The Naked Gun

Happy Memorial Day, Stramers! On the first big holiday weekend of the “summer”, the highly anticipated and potentially final installment of the Mission Impossible franchise is being released. Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is set a few months after the end of the previous installment, Dead Reckoning. In this sequel, the terrifying, sentient AI, “The Entity”, has spun the world into chaos; and Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his cohort are the most equip to it take down and save the world from certain destruction. When the President of the United States (Angela Bassett) enlists Hunt to destroy the Entity once and for all, Hunt goes on a globe-hopping impossible mission to outsmart his nemesis, Gabriel (Esai Morales), and dismantle the Entity. Cruise stunting hijinks ensue.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning ended with two of the most heart-pounding and gripping stunts that the franchise has ever seen. This movie had a lot to live up to; and for the most part, it does just that. My primary gripe with Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is that it is too long and there is too much talky exposition. It seems the filmmakers don’t trust that the audience saw or remembers the previous films in the series. The characters spend a lot of time explaining the mission, the Entity, and how all these things connect. The mission doesn’t make a lot of sense, and the explanations don’t really help. Just get to the action, already! Unfortunately, the exposition-heavy scenes early in the movie slow the momentum of the story and make the first 40 or so minutes drag.

You come to these Mission Impossible movies for stunts and action, and The Final Reckoning delivers about 2 hours of awe-inspiring stunts. When the movie finally kicks into high gear, the suspense of the situation grabs you and doesn’t let go. Tom Cruise is a master at action sequences, and he throws himself completely into each set piece. I don’t know how he does it still at 60 years old. You will move to the edge of your seat as the tension ratchets up and up. Also, this movie isn’t only about Tom Cruise. The rest of the cast is fun and compelling as well. Even though Cruise is the center of the action, the other actors provide humor and heart. It’s great to see Angel Bassett and Ving Rhames back. It’s also fun to have brief moments with television favorites like Tramell Tillman, Hannah Waddingham, and Nick Offerman. There’s a lot going on and that makes it feel like a worthy theater-going experience.

Ultimately, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is an exciting addition to the Mission Impossible series. It has the thrilling stunts that pull you to the edge of your seat. It has some humor and heart as well, and the cast is populated by likeable characters and actors that understood the assignment. As long as you can get through the talky explanation of the mission, you’ll have a good time for most of this movie’s long runtime. You have to see Ethan Hunt run, dive and fly on the big screen with a big box of popcorn.