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posted: June 21, 2025
tl;dr: It’s Tom Cruise’s world, we all just live in it...
In today’s fractured, polarized society, there are few common experiences that have the ability to pull us all together. Sporting events are one such opportunity, although they’ve lost some of their ability to do so. The Olympics and the World Cup can bring people together to some extent, although the Olympics are somewhat politicized and the U.S. men’s national team rarely can compete with the world’s best in soccer/football. Here in the U.S. I consider MLS, the NHL, and also the NBA to be somewhat niche sports leagues that do not appeal to all. The NFL is hugely popular as a televised sport, yet not many people get to go to the eight or nine regular season games each team plays in its home stadium. I still consider MLB to be the game that is most accessible to the largest numbers and broadest spectrum of the American populace. I claim that if you attend a MLB game and look around at your fellow spectators, you will see a wider variety of ages, economic strata, races, and every other dimension of people than you will see at any other American sporting event. It almost has to be that way: MLB teams need to get millions of people to buy tickets each year, so they have to appeal to all.
The era of the must-see Hollywood blockbuster movie that everyone goes to the local moviehouse to see, perhaps several times, is dying. I can remember the original Star Wars movie (which wasn’t a blockbuster when released, but it caught on) playing in movie theaters for months, which was the only way to see it. Technology is one reason, chiefly streaming video services enabled by broadband networking, and inexpensive, large, high-resolution video displays. But another is the challenge of creating a movie that can appeal to a wide audience in today’s fractured society. Tom Cruise has made it his mission to do so, and to save the in-person cinematic experience. Top Gun: Maverick was one such recent attempt, and Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (MITFR) is another. Both are a success, at least to this moviegoer who stills enjoys watching a good film on the large screen in a public theater.
I followed Tom Cruise’s advice and saw MITFR on an IMAX screen, and the movie does take full advantage of IMAX’s capabilities. The scenery is often spectacular, and the movie wouldn’t be as engaging an experience on a lower-resolution screen. As for the movie itself, the stunts and the action are the highlights, and they are astonishing. I am amazed that Tom Cruise did not kill himself in making this movie. I am aware of at least one trick done in post-production: the safety ropes that would protect Cruise if he made a wrong move while moving around on the wing of a biplane in flight are digitally removed. Still, it is astonishing what he pulled off. How he survived the burning parachute scene I have no idea.
Having seen the predecessor movie, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, the plot of MITFR was familiar to me and easier to follow than the predecessor’s. There are a few plot flaws, especially a precariously-balanced submarine, which can be overlooked in the spirit of artistic license. I didn’t think the character development was as good as in the predecessor (perhaps there was less of a need), but the highlight of MITFR is definitely the stunts and the action, which aim to bring the two-movie storyline to its conclusion.
Is The Final Reckoning the final Mission: Impossible movie? Tom Cruise is 62 years old, and although he is in great shape for his age, it’s hard to imagine him being able to constitute the physical strength required to continue doing his own stunts. This is especially true when considering his insistence upon realism for the stunts, his refusal to use stunt doubles, and his desire to top what he has pulled off in previous Mission: Impossible movies. Without giving away the ending, I was expecting that the storyline would completely wrap up his battle with the rogue artificial intelligence from the predecessor movie. It almost does, yet it leaves open the possibility for more stories to come. Note to Tom Cruise: whenever you encounter bad software, you should delete it at the soonest available opportunity. But perhaps he wants to show that the world really does belong to him, at least on the silver screen.