Amph [Your thread should you choose to accept it] Mission: Impossible

BigAl6ft6 · May 23, 2025 at 7:39 PM

Final Reckoning was good even if a bit too long (I jetted out to the restroom around an hour and 50 minutes so I could enjoy and not be uncomfortable for the finale, all I think I missed was Ethan being shot out into CGI water). Lots of piece of previous film continuity wrangled here (Oddly it makes MI4-6 seem more side-questy in the grand scheme of the series. MI2 always felt side quest-y) But the best piece of continuity brought in is

the Entity is the freakin Rabbit's Foot/ Anti-God from MI3!! Only took almost two decades but finally figured out what that thing was

Langley guy from the first film brought back for a decent sized role was neat too. Making the fed chasing Ethan the last two movies Jim Phelps Jr. wasn't exactly a great bit canon management. I blew up your dad with gum, buddy!

Sarge · May 23, 2025 at 7:59 PM

Definitely too long, especially the part with no dialog in the sunken sub. Listening to Tom Cruise grunting gets old fast.

BigAl6ft6 · May 23, 2025 at 8:25 PM

Yeah they spent all that money on a rotating set and you can only see like half of it as it's borderline pitch black.

Sarge · May 23, 2025 at 9:34 PM

Who decided to

kill off Luther and let Benji live?

Totally backwards decision making.

MotivateR5D4 · May 24, 2025 at 6:58 AM

If you are a diver, that whole sequence is absolutely enthralling. I don't think people fully appreciate that part of the movie.

DarthPhilosopher · May 25, 2025 at 12:21 AM

I thought the action sequences of the film were pretty great (especially the South Africa plane stuff), but I feel like the ‘Ethan is the chosen one’ thing was way overplayed to the point of parody.

Sarge said: ↑

Who decided to

kill off Luther and let Benji live?

Totally backwards decision making.
Click to expand...

I think they needed to make sure that he couldn’t recreate the virus thing. If they let him live, it would change the entire plot of the film.

VadersLaMent · May 26, 2025 at 11:41 AM

So I liked it, and the audience gave a good clap when it was done.

A few quibbles.

I love the final airplane scene. However how do you not know another plane it flying right below you long enough for him to get on the other one? Also, each has what the other has so should they not be careful not to lose each other in those mountains and such?

Grace and Ethan get sexy-ish time in that chamber but never get together? Ah well, perhaps that's too predictable.

It really rides on the need for everyone to be super sharp about how someone will act. "He needs this so he'll be there."

But it is good overall though I think the previous film is better.

EDIT: I forgot, the best call back to previous movies..

The dude from the first film who looked at the knife stuck in the table has a good role in this.

The2ndQuest · May 27, 2025 at 4:24 AM

So, caught it in IMAX Sunday night. Very entertaining flick, but a lot of the common criticisms you've seen elsewhere are pretty valid. It actually shares a lot of the same problems with MI7 (which makes sense). Namely that the exposition dialogue is written pretty poorly, and is repeated to the point of annoying redundancy (both very problematic when dealing with a much more "out there" concept like The Entity that is pushing to the threshold of sci-fi in a a series that is typically much more grounded beyond the masks gimmick). And Gabriel just isn't a threatening villain. The only real danger he represented in MI7 was because he had access to the Entity's info, and here, now that he's lost that and/or is coasting on breadcrumbs, it makes him much more impotent as a threat.

And I was not expecting a The Day After-type scenario coming into play, which was a pleasant addition.

But once they get to the submarine sequence setup midway through the film, the movie starts to get some momentum and recovers from the initial messiness of picking up from MI7. And the film does a good job of tying together past films into events in a way that makes this feel like a suitable wrap-up to the series vs simply a wrap-up to MI7. I suspect rewatches will have significant new perspectives on at least one of the previous films from now on.

One thing that initially annoyed me, but was better in retrospect, is

the reuse of all the missile flag montages.

At first it seemed way too repetitive, but then I realized some of that was actually just in Ethan's "Entity vision download" 9that you can see in the trailer, so not a spoiler). And then I realized that the vision download was actually this film's version of the opening "on this episode of Mission: Impossible" montage that opened previous films. And that montage has always, always annoyed me. So I'm glad they found a clever way to modify the idea in a way that it is a part of the film rather than just unnecessary spoilers (yes, I get that it's an homage to the show, but this isn't 1980's TV anymore, you can be like The A-Team and just not do that when you turn things into a film).

Log in or Sign up

Amph [Your thread should you choose to accept it] Mission: Impossible

BigAl6ft6 Chosen One

Sarge 7x Wacky Wednesday winner VIP - Game Winner

BigAl6ft6 Chosen One

Sarge 7x Wacky Wednesday winner VIP - Game Winner

MotivateR5D4 Force Ghost

DarthPhilosopher Chosen One

VadersLaMent Chosen One

The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth Staff Member Manager