🎥 After nearly three decades of death-defying stunts and globe-trotting espionage, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt faces his most ambitious challenge yet — and unfortunately, so does the audience. The eighth installment of the Mission Impossible franchise, The Final Reckoning, is directed once again by Christopher McQuarrie, delivers the franchise’s trademark spectacular action sequences, but struggles under the weight of its own mythology (and a 170-minute runtime).

Where we left off: The villain in the first part of the M:I finale, Dead Reckoning, is still at large. And it isn’t a person, it’s an AI program. Hunt and his team, including the beloved long-time characters Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg), are racing to find a way to destroy an enemy that exists everywhere and nowhere before it falls under the control of interested parties alongside pickpocket Grace (Hayley Atwell).

The good: When The Final Reckoning is good, it’s really good. Minor spoilers: Two standout sequences — a claustrophobic underwater infiltration of a sunken submarine, and the jaw-dropping aerial finale featuring Cruise clinging to the wing of a biplace over South African canyons — represent some of the most breathtaking practical filmmaking in recent memory. It’s these moments that remind us why Cruise’s commitment to doing his own struts has become legendary, creating genuine tension and spectacle that no amount of CGI can replicate.

The bad: Unfortunately, these peaks are separated by vast valleys of tedious exposition and self-referential navel-gazing. The Final Reckoning suffers from what can only be described as franchise fatigue, spending far too much of its first hour reminding audiences of previous films through montages and flashbacks that feel more like a “Previously on…” reel than organic storytelling. As if fellow M:I diehards wouldn’t have binge-watched all seven installments in preparation.

The Entity — the AI threatening to end all human life — represents the kind of stakes inflation that has plagued many long-running franchises. While topical, the nebulous digital villain lacks the tangible menace of previous M:I antagonists. The threat of nuclear annihilation feels abstract when delivered through endless briefing scenes rather than visceral action. When characters spend more time talking about how important everything is rather than letting the action speak for itself, something fundamental has been lost. But at the same time, how do you fight AI?

Strong performances despite it all: Hayley Atwell continues to prove herself a worthy addition to the IMF team, while Ving Rhames provides the film’s most genuine emotional moments as the long-suffering Luther. Angela Bassett brings gravitas to her role as President Sloane, and scene-stealers like Tramell Tillman — who you might know from Severance — make the most of their limited screen time. But the ensemble feels constrained by a script more interested in servicing plot mechanics than character development. Even Cruise — typically charismatic in the role of Ethan Hunt, seems weighed down by the film’s insistence on treating him as a messianic figure rather than the daring professional we’ve come to love.

The verdict: The Final Reckoning will satisfy devoted fans seeking closure and spectacular action, but it represents a step back from the near-perfect balance of spectacle and storytelling that made its immediate predecessors so thrilling. It’s a reminder that sometimes, less really can be more — even when Tom Cruise is hanging from an airplane.

WHERE TO WATCH- Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is screening at VOX Cinemas at City Center Almaza and Mall of Egypt, Scene Cinemas at Cairo Festival City and District 5, Citystars Cinemas, and Cima Arkan. You can watch the trailer on YouTube (runtime 2:18).

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