Mission Absolutely Impossible: Final Wreckoning

The Mission Impossible films came long after the TV program of the same name had primed the pump between 1966 and 1973.  It was popular, but like various movie franchises, they began life either as TV shows, or as comic books, or both actually (for instance in the case of Superman).  As for this episode, it was not as fitting an ending as the end of the James Bond films involving Daniel Craig, with Tom Cruise refusing to die, and speaking about continuing the franchise, while other main characters do disappear with this episode.  The movie already has a lower critical rating  than some of the other Cruise based MI movies, and it is simply much too long— 2 hours and 49 minutes worth. The underwater scenes could have been cut in half, and the daring do hanging from a biplane scenes by about a third honestly.  It is of course impressive that Tom Cruise at 63 can still run fast and do various of his own stunts, but the story needs to be less melodramatic, and instead actually dramatic.   Part of the problem apparently is that Tom Cruise is doing the producing.   Simon Pegg does a good job of reprising his role, as does Ving. Rhames, and Angela Bassett does a good job playing the role of the U.S. President.

The basic premise of the movie is that there is a form of AI out there that has developed actually intelligence and will, and has taken over the social media world, so it could spy on everyone, and then eliminate  the human race while it carries on.  This of course must be stopped, and Ethan Hunt is just the man to do it, however much of a rogue who doesn’t obey orders he is.   There seems to be a bit of scientology philosophy thrown in here and there about calling and destiny as well.

As a summer blockbuster, you certainly get a lot of bang and thrills and spills for your buck, but one could have wished for a more taut thriller with good dialogue, and a lot less of stretching credulity past the breaking point.