MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL RECKONING

An epic of hell-descent & redemption.

I’ve always admired the Mission Impossible films. Despite having different directors and writers throughout its lifespan, each entry has managed to tread a fine line between ingenuity, action, grounded pathos, and comedic gold.

But with the final two films in the series, Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning, the series went in a direction I could not have possibly imagined, and I am here for it and then some.

As I am often reiterating on this Substack, myth is at the core of what gives narrative its power. Myth allows us to access the deeper dimensions of the human condition. Myth helps us understand ourselves. And myth leads to transformation.

The writers behind Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning understood this. Hence, the final entry in the series feels nothing like a heist movie or a thriller, and more like a fantasy epic. Everything from the choral and symphonic score, to the exotic landscapes, to the action set-pieces, and the “fellowship” of unlikely heroes screams fantasy-adventure. In order to catapult the series to the next level, Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise have reimagined the aesthetic of the series, and fashioned Ethan Hunt into more than a spy: an epic, mythic hero—accompanied, of course, by his ragtag band of fellow adventurers.

Of course, there have always been traces of this DNA in the series. Hunt is described in Rogue Nation as, “the living manifestation of destiny.” In Fallout, a Delivery Man brings Hunt a mission briefing, and they have a coded exchange:

Fate whispers to the warrior “You cannot withstand the storm.”

And the warrior whispers back, “I am the storm.”

In the same film, Ethan is given a copy of The Odyssey, and Ethan’s arc in that film mirrors of Odysseus’s mythic and spiritual journey back to his lost wife.

But in the final movie, this mythical framing reaches its apogee. The Entity, a malevolent AI that has taken control of human information and therefore perception, is the “Lord of Lies”. Many worship this Lord of Lies, believing it will herald a new age for mankind. Some have declared themselves the Entity’s prophets, using its algorithmic power to predict outcomes. The Entity may even be communed with by those who enter a sarcophagus-like rig; those the Entity favours, it may reveal the future to. This device becomes interwoven with the central theme of the film: free will versus determinism. As you can see, The Entity resembles more evil god or demon than any technological peril. These are not the trappings of a modern spy-thriller but of an ancient epic.

Similarly, Ethan has transformed from a spy and into a Herculean demigod. He even wields a hammer—much like Thor—to devastating affect in one memorably comedic scene near the start.

The Entity has rendered digital technology corrupt, and so the world must revert to old, analog technologies. This only furthers the fantastical aesthetic. When futuristic technology is used, it more resembles the enchanted gemstones and artefacts of a sword & sorcery yarn than any real technology we possess. None of this is a criticism. On the contrary, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is a work of brilliance in that it demonstrates par excellence looking at the world through the eyes of the myth, of the daimonic soul, where everyday and mundane items become laden with mythic resonance.

This is perhaps best typified in a scene where Ethan must dive down into the wreck of a submarine. It is a harrowing katabasis. The dead exist in this subterranean world. Other titanic warships swim through the waters like leviathans of the deep. The whole way the sound and score is designed makes it seem more like a sojourn into Tartarus, where the titans dwell in silent dolour, than a mere diving mission. As Ethan navigates the labyrinthine confines of the submarine’s interior, it is like he navigating the tunnels of Hell. Red light bathes everything. The black waters of emotion ebb and flow and flood like the river Styx. At the climax of the scene, he must break through the deep ice… much as in the lowest run of Hell, Dante finds frost, not fire.

Time and again, McQuarrie uses camera angles that subvert our orientation as if to reinforce this hell descent. As Ethan drifts to the surface of the waters, struggling for air, the camera twists and suddenly he is falling. Up is down and down is up; the world is not right, in this realm of darkness.

Many shots in this film feel more like the illustrations of Gustav Dor, or the paintings of William Blake, than shots you would find in an action movie. They take the breath away.

The action set-pieces in this film are fittingly death-defying and thrilling, but they also take on a new grandeur because they are infused with this mythic iconography. Without giving too much away, there is a moment where Ethan is falling into cloud and fire that looks like a scene from Paradise Lost. There are fallen angels everywhere in this film, in fact, which invites one to reflect on the subtextual resonances beyond the more simplistic saviour-imagery. Ethan is a hero, we are left in no doubt of this by is team. But his darker side is also explored.

Of course, one can always nitpick faults—no work of art is without them. The first part of the film is too frenetically paced. One or two other parts perhaps drag. I personally would have liked the fate of one character to be different. There is one central mystery of the series that still remains unaddressed. But these are minor quibbles overall. Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning is what big-budget cinema is all about. It tells a tale of mythic grandeur on what is still one of the biggest and most powerful canvases available to us: the cinema screen. Even if you are not a fan of Mission Impossible, or action movies, you should go and see it. I came away inspired and seeing once more the soul of myth dancing everywhere I looked.