This article contains spoilers for Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.Tom Cruiseand directorChristopher McQuarrie’s latest (and potentially last) venture into the world of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) withMission: Impossible—The Final Reckoninghas been playing in theaters worldwide for a few weeks now, racking up hundreds of millions at the box office and almost as many conversations. Much of the chatter is about two of the movie’s bigger action set pieces,as well as how it approaches what could very well be its final chapter,at least from Cruise and McQuarrie. What hasn’t been discussed as much is how the film ends by leaving things on such a high note that it might be foolish to try to make another movie after it.
Of course, anotherMission: Impossiblemovie will depend on many factors, includingwhether the movie stands a chance at making back its reported $400 million production budget,which doesn’t even include the millions Paramount Pictures spent on marketing the film worldwide. As of this writing, it has grossed $450 million worldwide, which sounds like a lot until you consider the production budget and the fact that the studio only makes roughly 55% of that amount, which would be under $250 million. And yet,The Final Reckoningis very good,while paying tribute to everything that came before it, the classic case of a movie leaving the viewer wanting more.
How McQuarrie and Cruise Made Sure To Keep ‘The Final Reckoning’ on Track With Earlier Installments
An interesting aspect ofThe Final Reckoning, although it’s been a sticking point to some, is how McQuarrie has paid tribute to past installments of the franchise,sometimes overtly and sometimes a little more subtly. Throughout the film, there are quite a few references and callbacks to the original 1996Mission: Impossible, but other non-McQuarrie installments likeMission: Impossible IIIandMission: Impossible—Ghost Protocolare also cited, most notably in an interrogation scene where Hunt is trying to convince Angela Bassett’s POTUS to help him find the Sevastopol to stop the Entity. Althoughreviews were generally favorablefor the movie, not everyone appreciated all the recapping of previous movies.
The recapping is only part of the setup for the film’s main story, as then we’re fully into the quest by Hunt and his colleagues to put a stop to Gabriel and the Entity. But being reminded of those past missions with scenes from the past movies made it clearer that, despite directing the last four installments, McQuarrie was not erasing past movies that are part of Hunt’s canon. More importantly,the movie kills one of the most significant characters in the franchise and the only one who has appeared in every single installmentbesides Cruise’s Ethan Hunt, and that isVing Rhames' Luther Stickell. Lutherdies very early in the movie, hitting many of the fans quite hard, since he has been such a huge part of the franchise.
No One Can Deny That Ving Rhames’ Send-off Is the Emotional Core of ‘The Final Reckoning’
Not everyone liked that Rhames' Luther bit the big one in a big way early inThe Final Reckoning.Despite not being physically involved in the final steps of Hunt’s quest to find the Sevastopol and stop the Entity, his presence was always felt throughout the movie. When Hunt finally gets the necessary “poison pill” designed by Luther to kill the Entity back fromEsai Morales’Gabriel and uses it to imprison the A.I.,Luther gets the final word with a heartfelt and moving message to his colleague from the grave, which you can read below:
“Hello, brother. If you’re listening to this, the world is still here, and so are you. For the record, I never had a moment of doubt. I knew you’d find a way. You always do. I hope, in time, you can see this life is not some quirk of fate. This was your calling. Your destiny. A destiny that touches every living thing. Like it or not, we are masters of our fate. Nothing is written. And our cause, however righteous, pales in comparison to the impact of our effect. Any hope for a better future comes from willing that future into being. A future reflecting the measure of good within ourselves. And all that is good inside us is measured by the good we do for others. We all share the same fate – the same future. The sum of our infinite choices. One such future is built on kindness, trust, and mutual understanding, should we choose to accept it. Driving without question towards a light we cannot see. Not just for those we hold close, but for those we’ll never meet. I hope you know I’ll always love you, brother. And I will see you again, though I hope it’s not too soon. The world still needs you. Of course, they’ll never know it, but we did it. We, who live and die in the shadows. This message will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Ethan.”
It’s just so fitting for Luther to make this speech becausehe really has been the emotional core for the entire franchise,even if sometimes it’s simply a matter of him making a wisecrack about something happening, even when life-threatening stakes are involved. Luther’s speech ends up being quite hopeful about the fate of Hunt and the IMF after saving the world. Normally, this sort of final speech would be given to Hunt himself, butMcQuarrie knew that they couldn’t just kill off Luther and not give him a significant callback.
Hear Me Out! After ‘Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning’ the Franchise Should Return to Television!
After eight movies in nearly 30 years, there’s so much more potential as a television or streaming series.
That’s followed by one of those scenes where the remaining IMF members reconnect in Trafalgar Square before dispersing back into the shadows,the perfect way to give each of the key actors one more chance to say “goodbye,” presuming there might not be another installment. In aninterview withCollider’s Steve Weintraub, actorSimon Peggshared that Cruise himself wanted to leave the movie in a hopeful place, which might not have been the case if they had allowed Hunt to die during his battle with Gabriel. In that final scene, Pegg said:
It was kind of emotional, you know? I love the fact that Tom doesn’t like to leave the audience feeling like it’s the end, even though this is ‘The Final Reckoning.’ Even if we never make another Mission: Impossible film again, he wants there to be hope. When people leave the cinema, he wants them to be excited and feel like, “Oh, you know what? There could be more,” you know? So, that was exciting. That little moment when we all look at each other, and there’s the promise, and that music starts. It’s just the best.
And yet, if another movie doesn’t happen, that brings us back to the idea of continuing theMission: Impossiblefranchiseas some sort of television or streaming series, althoughMcQuarrie recently told theNew York Timesthat he doesn’t seeMission: Impossibleworking without Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. Of course, he might say that, and the fact that Hunt survivedThe Final Reckoningdoesn’t rule out his return, although we’ve already seen withNo Time to Diethat killing offDaniel Craig’s James Bond gave a sense of closure to that iteration of the long-running action franchise, which has become accustomed to switching actors without any explanation. We might be waiting many years to see if Paramount Pictures and Skydance (who have been in talks to merge) might want to continueMission: Impossibleor just let it end on this high note withThe Final Reckoning. Either way,everyone responsible for making these movies, particularly Cruise and McQuarrie, has left us with a series of eight infinitely rewatchable movies.
