Taken as an individual film, Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning is a decent effort with some solid action sequences. Taken in context of the entire Mission: Impossible series (particularly the last three directed by Christopher McQuarrie), its plot is surprisingly dull at times when compared to the earlier installments. Co-written by McQuarrie, there are numerous callbacks to the previous films, making it less enjoyable as a standalone effort.
Impossible Mission Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) continues his search for the A.I. program known as The Entity. The clock is ticking as the Entity pursues control of the world’s nuclear codes, determined to launch if governments don’t bow to its demands. This sends Ethan around the world to counteract them.
Ethan has the special key needed to obtain its original source code. First, he must make his way to the sunken submarine where it’s located. The rest of the team—computer guru Luther (Ving Rhames), tech wiz Benji (Simon Pegg) pickpocket Grace (Hayley Atwell) and assassin Paris (Pom Klementieff) are along to help. Meanwhile, familiar nemesis Gabriel (Esai Morales) is determined to get his hands on the key and join forces with the A.I.
This leaves American President Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett) forced to confront the reality that destroying the Entity means wiping out cyberspace—a move that will have a cataclysmic effect on the world’s political and economic systems. Meanwhile, her group of advisors, including the Secretary of Defense (Holt McCallany) and Joint Chiefs of Staff (Nick Offerman) are pulling her in different directions.
The use of flash forwards showing everything will go off correctly robs things of some of its immediacy. Nonetheless, anyone who has seen the previous films will feel like everything has been leading up to the events in The Final Reckoning. Having long ago proven his action star bonafide’s, Tom Cruise is clearly having a great time. Fans will find it easy to enjoy the ride, despite the occasional plot hole.
Presented in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio, and 1.90:1 (IMAX sequences), Paramount’s 4K release offers excellent clarity and razor-sharp detail. Every bead of sweat and speak of dust looks realistic. The IMAX sequences deliver spot on precision, with no softness or compression issues apparent. Contrast is pleasing, while blacks are deep and inky. Dolby Vision results in bold colors, be it desert hues or neon accents. Skin tones look natural and lifelike throughout. The HDR grading gives explosions a surprisingly active appearance. Free of compression and DNR, the image is pristine.
The Dolby Atmos soundtrack has a nice sense of dimensionality throughout. The mix uses all channels to put you right in the middle of the various action sequences. Whether its speeding cars, plane engines or gunfire, the chaos is well mixed and doesn’t interfere with dialogue that’s clean, clear and concise throughout.
English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are included.
The following extras are included:
- Audio Commentary with Actor Tom Cruise and Director/Co-writer Christopher McQuarrie
- Audio Commentary with Christopher McQuarrie, Editor Eddie Hamilton and 1st AD Mary Boulding.
- Behind the Scenes Production Featurettes (HD, 17:03) – There are five brief featurettes, “Taking Flight: Filming the Biplane Sequence,” “To the Depths: Inside the Underwater Stunt,” “To the North: On Location in Svalbard,” “The Score” and “Through the Mine.”
- Isolated Score Track: Presented via Dolby 5.1 audio.
- Deleted Shots Montage (HD, 9:35) With optional commentary by McQuarrie.
- Olifants River Canyon & Biplane Transfer (HD, 4:03) With optional commentary by McQuarrie and Cruise.
- Four Promo Spots (HD, 3:23)
- Photo Galleries & Bios (HD)
- Blu-ray Copy of the film. It includes the same commentaries and isolated score as the 4K UHD.