TMW #53: Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning and Final Destination Bloodlines reviewed
Plus, our take on the Andor finale and a round-up of the latest trailers
Welcome to our another stack of reviews of the biggest new releases, featuring Star Wars, Tom Cruise and the Grim Reaper. As ever we welcome your likes, shares, restacks and comments…
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
12A, in cinemas 21 May
⭐⭐☆☆☆
Over nearly 30 years, Mission: Impossible has been one of the most reliable blockbuster franchises, arguably going from strength to strength until it peaked with the sixth entry, the near peerless Fallout (one of the best action movies of the century). The bloated two-part conclusion that has followed, 2023’s Dead Reckoning Part One and now The Final Reckoning, leaves the franchise ‘ending’ (if that is indeed the case) on a disappointing note.
Part One can be forgiven some of its flaws on the caveat that it’s the first half of a bigger story, and it also features some cracking set pieces (the Fiat 500 chase, the motorcycle leap, the train dangle) to keep the interest up. These have become a franchise requisite, and the marketing team knows it, ensuring we’re well aware of the life-threatening situations star/producer/stunt man Tom Cruise has put himself through in the name of cinematic spectacle. This film’s much-heralded biplane sequence is an absolute stunner, right up there with the series’ very best. But it’s a hell of a slog to get there.
There’s one other notable set piece in The Final Reckoning, in which Cruise’s Ethan Hunt explores a sunken submarine, which is decent if not red letter (there’s no palpable sense of Cruise or Hunt being in particular peril), and, frankly, it’s not enough to satisfy the protracted running time (170 mins!). What pads the film out are clunky callbacks, far too much exposition and a tone of dreary portent in a rare misjudgement from Cruise and longtime writer/director collaborator Christopher McQuarrie.
We begin with a recap of the events of the last movie in which Hunt secured a two-part cruciform key vital to stopping the omnipotent AI threat, the Entity. Over a series of drawn-out scenes choppily intercut with grainy flashbacks, it becomes apparent that the Entity is going to take control of the world’s biggest nuclear arsenals and wipe out life on Earth. Hunt convinces President Sloane (Angela Bassett) that he’s the only person who can stop it.
For a film that’s coming on the heels of a (163-minute!) Part One, there’s no excuse for taking so long to get going. Seemingly keen to give this the gravity of a franchise-closer, McQ strips away much of the fun of previous instalments for a more ominous tone. Not only does that make it dull in parts (the fact the signature theme is barely used gives you a sense of the vibe), but it makes it harder to allow the franchise its trademark silliness. Action cinema is built on suspension of disbelief, but there are plot holes here you could steer a biplane through.
The cast fail to get a consistent handle on tone, too. It’s not helped that much of the dialogue feels like it was written by the Entity, rather than a human being. There are a few bright spots: Ving Rhames’ gravelly twinkle is welcome, and Tramell Tillman (Severance) brings some panache. But others suffer from inconsistent characterisation (Hayley Atwell’s Grace), too little to do (Simon Pegg’s Benji) and wild overacting (Esai Morales as returning baddie, Gabriel).
It’s easy to judge a Mission: Impossible movie harshly when you know the heights it’s capable of. There are elements of The Final Reckoning that hint at a better film struggling to get out, and lovers of the franchise will find moments to enjoy. But when there aren’t enough standout stunts to detract from the ripe dialogue, overburdened dramatic contrivances (seriously, every task depends on coincidences, ticking clocks and incredulously small margins of error) and a distinct lack of ‘finality’, it’s hard to call this Mission a success. (Matt Maytum)
THE VERDICT: The final set piece will have you leaving the cinema on a high, but otherwise you have to reckon with this being a franchise low point, and the weakest since M:I2.
STAY FOR THE END CREDITS? No MCU-style teases here.
RIDE OR DIE: This is the fifth film in which McQuarrie has directed Cruise. McQ has screenplay credits on a further four Cruise films.
Final Destination: Bloodlines
15, in cinemas now
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Hold on to your piercings: after a 14-year hiatus, Death and its handmaiden - the tortuously inventive, fiendishly funny freak accident - are back in the game. Fans can breathe a scythe of relief: this is an assured relaunch for the quarter-century-old horror saga, adding layers of backstory and mythology while delivering plenty of yuck - and yuks - for your buck. That said, pacing is an issue; clocking in at 110 mins, Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s (2018’s Freaks) entry suffers from some draggy gaps between the USP set-pieces.
There’s also the fact that Bloodlines saves the best for first, rewinding to the 1960s for opening night of the Skyview Restaurant Tower, where young Iris (Brec Bassinger) has a hellish premonition. Ranking high among the series’ best scenes, the lengthy opener skillfully builds both tension and character (sweetly romantic declarations are on the cards) before things come crashing down in horribly spectacular fashion. As Iris’ present-day descendants (principally granddaughter Stefani, played by Kaitlyn Santa Juana) are plagued by the events of that fateful evening, so too the rest of the movie struggles to cast off its superbly orchestrated shadow. Still, it’s only really the anticlimactic closer where the Reaper is caught seriously slacking, having a host of sick fun elsewhere with ceiling fans, lawnmowers and MRI machines. It’s clear there’s still life in the franchise, though this entry does offer finality in an atypically poignant sense with one last cameo from the late Tony Todd, to whom the film is dedicated. (Matthew Leyland)
TERROR IS SERVED: If thrills and chills in fancy cloud-piercing restaurants are your thing, be sure to check out Drop, reviewed here and available on premium digital now.
Andor S2
Eps 10-12 streaming now, Disney+
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If there was any doubt hanging over Andor going into the show’s conclusive, three-episode run, it was whether Tony Gilroy and co. could stick the landing and cement their unlikely triumph as the best slice of Star Wars since The Last Jedi in 2017, or perhaps even The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. Mission accomplished; Andor isn’t just one of the great pieces of Star Wars storytelling, it ranks among the best shows of the streaming era.
Jumping forward to BBY 1, Andor’s ultimate arc focuses on Luthen, Kleya (a sensational Elizabeth Dulau) and their last stand on Coruscant. As Dedra and the ISB close in on ‘Axis’, the show flashes back to reveal the origins of Luthen and Kleya’s rebellion. Back on Yavin, Cassian and K2 spring into action when they receive an emergency transmission.
Upending expectations till the end, the decision to make Kleya a central figure in Andor’s final run of episodes pays dividends – Dulau is a magnetic performer who deftly conveys Kleya’s steely resolve and resourcefulness in the face of overwhelming odds. The flashbacks provide important emotional context, even if much of what we learn could be reasonably inferred, making their volume and prominence the one minor misstep here.
When Cassian comes back into the picture, it’s no less thrilling, with K2-SO (Alan Tudyk) landing big laughs as Rogue One’s returning, deadpan droid. Though still strange that Cassian has often felt like a supporting player in his own show, this final run makes a strong case for his importance to the Rebellion, even if his mythical pedestal is never as elevated as the Original Trilogy’s heroes.
But Andor has always been an ensemble show, and it’s impressive that almost every major character receives a fitting end, whether they live to see another sunrise or not. Dedra’s fate feels particularly poetic, while Ben Mendelsohn’s Krennic makes more of an impression in one terrifying scene here than he did in the entirety of Rogue One. It may be a prequel to a prequel, but Andor does a better job of enriching the Star Wars stories that follow than Lucas’ own prequels ever did.
The sting in the tail is that Andor hasn’t been close to the monster hit that it deserves to be. A dense, morally knotty resistance story about a supporting character from a 2016 spin-off movie was never going to have the mass appeal of an Obi-Wan or Ahsoka, but let’s hope Lucasfilm learn the right lessons from Andor’s critical success and recognise that there is a far broader range of stories to tell in their galactic sandbox. (Jordan Farley)
SIGNING OFF Nemik’s manifesto continues to echo throughout the galaxy in Andor’s finale. The actor who played Nemik in the Aldhani arc, Alex Lawther, will next be seen this summer in Alien: Earth.
Hallow Road
15, in cinemas now
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
This taut little thriller from director Babak Anvari (Under the Shadow) makes a virtue of its stripped-back premise and the versatile skills of lead performers Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys. They’re a married couple who receive a middle-of-the-night call from their distressed daughter, who has been involved in a car accident in a wooded area off the titular road. Heading out into the night to help her, the pair spend the majority of the film behind the wheel, as the speakerphone conversation chips away at the details of the incident and applies pressure to marital faultlines and parenting tensions. To reveal too much more would rob this slight but effective genre exercise of some of its unfolding power, but Anvari and cinematographer Kit Fraser make smart use of the claustrophobic set up and its eerie lighting opportunities, giving the stagey foundations a cinematic sheen. A short, sharp punch of a movie, and an impressive showcase for Pike and Rhys. (Matt Maytum)
NEXT STOP: Anvari’s next film is set to be in the Cloverfield franchise. It’s reported to be a direct sequel to the 2008 original.
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