Mission: Impossible 8 premiere in Cannes - and is savaged by film critics
It was supposed to be the biggest blockbuster debut of the year – but Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (M:I 8) may have just hit a critical landmine in Cannes.
Tom Cruise made his grand return to the Croisette for the glitzy world premiere of the latest instalment in the long-running spy franchise.
There were fireworks (literally), standing ovations (briefly), and a whole lot of stunts (obviously).
But some early reviews have been less champagne-popping and more Molotov-cocktail-flinging.
While fans turned out in droves to catch a glimpse of Cruise, 63, still doing his own stunts and sprinting like the fate of the world depends on it, critics weren't quite as thrilled with what they saw.
The Daily Mail's review of the film – headlined 'Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is 3 hours of nonsense that will make you wish for the world to end' – features failed-marriage levels of resentment for Cruise's self-serious action hero.
Brian Viner writes: 'The film drags terribly in parts, and could lose half an hour just by cutting most of the lines telling us, in about 100 different ways, that the planet stands on the edge of a precipice. By the end, you might be wishing it would just fall off it.'
Directed once again by Christopher McQuarrie, the film promises more globe-trotting espionage and enough explosions to heat a small country – but according to many critics, the concept may have finally run out of steam.
One thing seemingly everyone can agree on is that the first half drags on, with scene after scene in which everyone and their mother congratulates Ethan Hunt for all his world-saving prowess. Many viewed this as a thinly veiled victory lap for Cruise himself, not Hunt.
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Vulture's Bilge Ebiri was also exhausted by how much of the film was self-congratulatory, writing: 'It's dispiriting to find so much of this new film suffering from Solemnity Overload, as Final Reckoning's first hour drowns us in dumb, endless litanies about the many achievements and transgressions of Ethan Hunt.'
Returning alongside Cruise are franchise regulars Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg,, and Hayley Atwell – with a few new faces thrown into the espionage soup. But even their combined charm doesn't seem to have salvaged this particular mission.
Even Variety's Owen Gleiberman, who was moved enough by Cruise's daring new stunts to mostly ignore the film's failings, reluctantly admitted in his review: 'There are moments when The Final Reckoning is preposterous.'
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Despite a budget rumoured to have ballooned past £300million, The Final Reckoning is facing questions about whether the franchise has finally become a victim of its own scale. More Trending
Still, The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw gave the film five stars and called it 'wildly entertaining,' even if he, too, admitted it was slow and bombastic at times.
This sequel follows the cliffhanger ending of Dead Reckoning – which had fans eager for resolution. But for many reviewers, the payoff didn't quite match the promise, though we won't spoil anything here.
Still, never count Ethan Hunt out. Cruise has defied the odds before. Audiences are sure to show up in force when the film hits cinemas worldwide, so Paramount may yet have the last laugh.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning hits UK cinemas on May 21, with previews from May 19
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