MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FINAL RECKONING (2025)

The written companion

Draft companion · Awaiting editorial review

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning: The Stunts Deliver. The Sendoff Takes Its Time.

Dan and Matt arrive at this supposed farewell from very different places. Matt has kept up with Mission: Impossible; Dan has been away from the series for years. He goes back partly to see how a franchise that began in 1996 might close its doors. You might expect all the reminders of earlier adventures to help the returning viewer more than the regular. Instead, both hosts come away thinking the film spends too long looking backward.

What brings them together is Tom Cruise doing the impossible in front of them. Matt singles out the underwater sequence, where the limits of Ethan Hunt’s equipment turn a dive into a sustained exercise in tension. He is equally taken with the aerial action, especially knowing how much of the physical work Cruise performs himself. The spectacle is a major part of his argument for watching this on a cinema screen. Dan agrees: the sound of aircraft and explosions surrounding you is part of the experience, not simply a louder way to watch the same story.

Their admiration for Cruise goes beyond any one stunt. Matt talks about him as a movie star in an older sense of the phrase, someone whose presence can make an event of a release. It helps explain why the film keeps their goodwill even when its length tries their patience. They have come to see an action film with Cruise, and the film delivers that. The question is whether its attempts to honor the entire series make this particular mission stronger.

For both hosts, the answer is mixed. Even Dan, who might have benefited most from a refresher, feels the flashbacks could have been reduced. Matt considers the result a good Mission: Impossible film, but puts it nearer the middle of the franchise than the top. They both give it three and a half out of five stars. That shared rating is more useful than a simple fan-versus-newcomer split: familiarity changes their starting points without changing the reservations they finish with.

Matt is also unconvinced that the door is permanently closed. He would accept this as a sendoff, yet can imagine returning for another mission. Dan jokes that the series is edging toward “Mission Probable.” Behind the joke is the reason they still recommend it: they expect Ethan to find a way, but watching the effort can remain exhilarating.

How much time should a franchise finale spend celebrating its past before it starts getting in the way of the story you came to see? Dan and Matt agree on the stunts; the memories surrounding them are where the conversation gets interesting. Watch their Picture This discussion ↗.

This companion describes action setups without revealing their outcomes. The full episode contains spoilers.