Mission: Impossible- The Final Reckoning review: Tom Cruise dives mid-sea, fights mid-air to save the world

It has been nearly 3 decades since Tom Cruise suspended himself from the ceiling inside a CIA vault and stole classified data of the US government from a computer. That set the stage for death-defying stunts in subsequent films in the franchise. As Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, and hangs from a plane, fighting his opponent and nemesis Gabriel while defying gravity, one wonders if the tried and tested template of the MI series is finally wearing off.

Plot of the film

The 8th and presumably the final in the series, Mission: Impossible- The Final Reckoning, picks up from where Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One ended. AI and its threat to world peace loom large and Ethan Hunt is beckoned by the US President to come and save the world.

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Entity - the villainous Artificial Intelligence, threatens to encrypt the data system of Nuclear-empowered countries across the world and detonate bombs across the world, which can start World War III and erase mankind. It is up to Ethan to find a solution and save the world in a matter of four days.

Ethan gathers his usual trusted aids- Luther (Luther (Ving Rhames), Benji (Simon Pegg), pickpocket-turned-agent Grace (Hayley Atwell) and former assassin Paris (Pom Klementieff). The group, quick on their heels, race against time to find the source code of the Entity called Podkova, buried in a submerged Russian submarine. The device has to be paired with the 'poison pill' - developed by Luther- to neutralise it and restore order in the world.

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Naturally, Ethan is given the charge to do the impossible. Dive deep into the sea to retrieve the Podkova, buried inside a submarine whose coordinates are also not known by most. And Ethan stays true to his reputation, free falling from a plane into the freezing Arctic ocean, hanging from a plane mid-air, going deep into the sea to retrieve an important gadget and even saving himself from a possible attack in his underpants.

Tom Cruise saves the day

By now playing the daredevil, slightly maverick agent Hunt comes naturally to Tom Cruise, and at 62 he is willing to still go the extra mile to give the audience the adrenaline rush in the theatre. But is it needed from a man who has time and again proved his mettle? Cruise, for decades, has remained the undisputed action star who never shies away from dangerous stunts. But at some point in The Final Reckoning, the stunts seem to feel repetitive and even (dare I say) prolonged.

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What does not work

Mission: Impossible -The Final Reckoning also suffers from an inconsistent narrative. The film oscillates between being reflective and thought-provoking to an out-and-out action entertainer, which on many occasions defies logic. One expects high-octane, death-defying stunts in Mission: Impossible films, but director Christopher McQuarrie, who also serves as co-writer and co-producer of the film, tries to jump into the conversation around AI and its misuse in the world. The result is that a film with a legacy of having superlative action sequences indulges in a whole lot of conversations and less action. The film treads on the first half sluggishly, picks up pace in portions where Hunt is trying to retrieve the Podkova or the poison pill and again slips a bit during the climax, making the film uneven in terms of its narration.

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The film provides ample room for Cruise to flex his muscles and do what he is best at-action. But the prolonged scenes - specuially the one where he is hanging from a plane mid-air and portions in the submarine seem stretched even for an average Tom Cruise movie standard.

The final chapter of Mission: Impossible?

While there is no official word on whether this is the final film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, I do feel Ethan Hunt needs to rest. It is not possible to project an ageing actor as a superhero who remains unscathed no matter what. Give him the rest he needs, its been 30 years of Ethan Hunt saving the world, let someone else take on his responsibility.

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Mission: Impossible- The Final Reckoning has been released in Indian cinemas on May 17.