Mission Impossible X Reviews: Tom Cruise's MI swansong is as impressive as the press tour led fans to believe
Tom Cruise is back doing what he does best — running through chaos, dangling from impossible heights, and trying to save the world one explosive stunt at a time. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning marks the eighth and final entry in the beloved action series, and with its global theatrical release last week, fans and critics alike are weighing in on whether this swan song sticks the landing.
From the get-go, the film delivers everything you expect from a Mission: Impossible movie: secret identities, exotic locales, and a driving score that never lets up. But while many fans are calling it a spectacular finale, others feel the movie is weighed down by its own ambition.
On social media platform X, one user raved: '#MissionImpossible the Final Reckoning is ONE OF THE BEST ACTION MOVIES & PEAK of Tom Cruise's action career. The sum of all his stunt work have lead to this. Biplane stunt is the BEST STUNT I'VE EVER SEEN. A 3 hour CINEMATIC FEAST for movie fans & LOVE LETTER TO THE FRANCHISE!!!' Another chimed in with a more specific moment of appreciation: 'I will say despite all my issues with Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning there's a line reading by Tramell Tillman that made me impulsively start clapping out of how perfect it was.' Another comment read, 'MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - THE FINAL RECKONING is exhilarating, suspenseful, and features some truly breathtaking sequences; the submarine one is right up there for best of the year. This one is definitely for the fans and your mission is to see it on the biggest screen possible!'
However, the praise isn't universal. Some early viewers pointed to pacing issues and a story that didn't quite hit the emotional or narrative highs of earlier entries. 'I liked Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, didn't love it. Strange editing choices, feels like things set up or established in the last one don't fully pay off, uneven pacing, but man when the movie is working, there's nothing else like it. The last half is fu**ing insane,' said one. Another claimed, 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is too long & overstuffed to the point it's boring at times. They drip fed the audience especially at the start. Lazy storytelling & questionable editing in places. The action of the final act is spectacular but it was too late.'
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie and co-written with Erik Jendresen, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is the follow-up to 2023's Dead Reckoning Part One. It features the return of Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt alongside franchise regulars Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Henry Czerny, and Angela Bassett. The story picks up the escalating threat from a rogue AI system known as the Entity and follows Hunt as he grapples with loyalty, trust, and the weight of his past decisions.
The Final Reckoning might not be the flawless goodbye some hoped for, but there's no denying its ambition or the sheer scale of its action. For many fans, it's a fitting tribute to an era of practical stunts and old-school espionage thrills. For others, it's a film that needed tighter editing and a more focused story. What did you think about the movie?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Time of India
‘To rethink the entire sound of Mission: Impossible – that was our mission'
By - R. Prashanth Vidyasagar Imagine being handed the keys to a 27-year-old action juggernaut. The engine's roaring, the controls are bubbling like a submarine alarm, and is already halfway up the side of a plane. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Your job? Redesign the whole interior, but don't touch the upholstery. That's pretty much what composers Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey signed up for on Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – the finale to the blockbuster spy saga. The composers tell us that their mission wasn't just about writing fabulous action music. 'It was about rethinking the entire sound of one of Hollywood's most iconic franchises, without losing what made it click in the first place,' they say. In this exclusive chat with Bangalore Times, the duo unpacks their wild 13-month journey, one that turned geography into harmony, stress into orchestration, and proved that, yes, sometimes the only thing standing between chaos and cohesion is a perfectly timed flute. Excerpts: 'It wasn't just about mood; the geography actually shaped the sound' From day one, director Christopher McQuarrie gave them a clear rule: the music has to reflect the place. 'That became our North Star,' says Max. 'Every major location got its own musical colour: South Africa, the submarine, Mount Weather. It wasn't just about 'mood' anymore. The geography actually shaped the sound,' he says.'And it works, even if you don't consciously notice it. You feel it. If a scene cuts from a frozen military base to a chaotic hideout, the music's already led you there,' Alfie adds. 'Every beat needed a countermelody, harmony, something to make even Mission: Impossible's sound feel human' The Mission franchise has a reputation for heavy rhythm bongos, that unmistakable 5/4 groove, but Max and Alfie didn't want to just hit the drums and call it a day. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'With this one, the drums couldn't carry the weight on their own. Every beat needed something next to it, a countermelody, some harmony, something that made it feel human,' says Max. They point to the film's big aerial finale, storm, chaos and emotion as one of the toughest and most rewarding cues to crack. 'That was one of the last ones we finished,' says Alfie. 'We tried using snares in this emotional moment, which sounds crazy, but it worked. It brought this weird intimacy to the scene.' Director Christopher McQuarrie gave us a clear rule: the music has to reflect the place. It wasn't just about 'mood' anymore. The geography actually shaped the sound —Max Aruj 'Nothing about scoring Mission: Impossible felt normal' Max still remembers getting the call. 'I was shocked,' he says. 'I had this 90-minute meeting with director Christopher McQuarrie. I thought it went well, but didn't expect a callback. The second I got the news, I told my parents. Then I started figuring out how to move my whole studio setup to London.' Alfie, who's based in East London, was technically on home turf, but that didn't make things feel any less surreal. 'I was home,' he says, 'but nothing about the next year felt normal. ' The two worked out of the same building as the director, editors, and producers, an unusual setup in the world of blockbusters. 'It felt like a regular job,' Alfie laughs. 'Lunch breaks, meetings, some kind of rhythm. Until the deadline started breathing down our necks.' 'Sometimes you just trust it'll all come together in the end. That's what makes it mission possible' Outside of the film, Max wants to write a musical. 'Something live, collaborative. It's a different kind of rush.' Alfie's thinking more retro: a big band album. 'I love that Sinatra-era warmth. I'd love to go deep on that.' If they weren't doing music? Max says he wishes he could draw. 'I love visual stuff, but I'm terrible at it.' Alfie wants to run a restaurant. 'Not to cook just to walk around and offer people more parmesan. That's the dream.' Looking ahead, Max is heading into the world of video games with a new project at Polygon Pictures. Alfie shares he's finally taking a break. 'This job taught me that there's no one way to do things. Sometimes you lead with melody, sometimes chords, sometimes just noise' Alfie says. 'And sometimes,' Max adds, 'you just trust it'll all come together in the end. That's what makes it mission possible.' 'Scoring the eighth and final film was like walking a tightrope' Scoring the eighth and final film in a franchise with a theme as iconic as Mission: Impossible meant walking a tightrope, says Alfie. 'That balance reinventing without breaking was McQ's (director Christopher McQuarrie) job,' says Max. 'At first, he said, 'Give me something new.' So we went emotional. Then a few weeks later: 'Where's the Mission stuff?' So, we had to blend the two.' Alfie adds, 'That tension actually helped. We weren't just copying. We were figuring out how to evolve it.' The duo adds that this is a 'score that sneaks up on you'. 'By the time you hit the third act of The Final Reckoning, chances are you're too caught up in the action to think about the score. But that's kind of the point,' says Max. 'By the tenth watch, I wasn't analysing anymore,' says Max. 'I was just in it. That's when you know it's working. ' Scoring the eighth and final film in a franchise with a theme as iconic as Mission: Impossible meant walking a tightrope. But, that tension actually helped — Alfie Godfrey What do blockbuster composers really listen to on their days off? Their playlists aren't what you'd expect. 'Slipknot,' says Max, no hesitation. 'The layers in their percussion? It's chaos, but it's tight. That's not far off from scoring a movie.' Alfie's pick? Béla Fleck. 'His mandolin stuff is so expressive and weirdly emotional. It's just inspiring to see someone do that with strings.' Asked which band they'd join if they could, Max picks Brandi Carlile's. Alfie picks the Beatles. 'I know, predictable. But come on, it's the Beatles.' By the time you hit the third act of Final Reckoning, chances are you're too caught up in the action to think about the score. But that's kind of the point —Max Aruj How would Max and Alfie score a chase scene in the Kodagu forests? So, how would they score a chase scene in India's lush Kodagu forests? 'Right away, I'm hearing twigs snapping that's already percussion,' Max says. 'Then probably a flute for lyricism, some tablas for drive. Add strings to give it some emotional width.' Alfie shares, 'That's the fun part, you just start building a whole sonic world from textures.'
New Indian Express
20 hours ago
- New Indian Express
‘Working with Tom is Incredible'
Actor Hayley Atwell has surprised her fans with a behind-the-scenes revelation about her time on Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. The 43-year-old actor revealed on The Tonight Show that she was eight and a half months pregnant while filming an intense action sequence for the film. Despite the challenges, she insisted on performing the stunts herself. The actor, who became globally popular for her role as Peggy Carter in multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, joined the MI franchise with its seventh instalment Dead Reckoning. How has your character changed from when we last saw her? Grace is a rather mischievous and fun character who makes mistakes but who can certainly hold her own with Ethan Hunt. She's still all that, but she has progressed. In the last film, she was really having to learn how to trust Ethan and to be part of a team. She now understands the cost of belonging to a group of people is the fear of losing them. So the emotional stakes for her are a lot higher in this one. She is still learning; she's still inexperienced, but she now also has this fear of something happening to the people she cares about.
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
'Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning' box office collection day 22: Action flick collects Rs 97.22 crores; Worldwide collection soars to Rs 3152.5 cr
Tom Cruise 's high-octane thriller 'Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning' continues to demonstrate its box office power even into its third week. According to the latest figures from Sacnilk, the film has raked in Rs 97.22 crore in India net and Rs 113.65 crore in gross, contributing to a mammoth worldwide total of Rs 3152.5 crore as of Day 22. English Version Leads in India The English-language version of the film has been the main contributor to the Indian box office collection. So far, it has earned Rs 64.17 crore in net collections. On Day 22 alone, the film added Rs 1.94 crore from its English version. The film had a strong start with Rs 11 crore on Day 1 and has sustained moderate weekday drops, showcasing Cruise's consistent draw with urban multiplex audiences. Even as the days pass, the film continues to perform respectably with figures between ₹0.50 crore and Rs 2.8 crore on weekdays and weekends, reflecting sustained interest. Hindi Version Adds Over Rs 28 Cr The Hindi dubbed version has added another Rs 28.6 crore to the Indian tally. The initial days saw a stronger reception, with Day 1 registering Rs 3.15 crore and a high point of Rs 5.05 crore on Day 6. However, collections have slowed down in the third week, with Day 22 pulling in Rs 29 lakhs. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like People Aged 50-85 With No Life Insurance Could Get This Reassured Get Quote Undo Telugu Version Remains Minimal The Telugu version has contributed the least, bringing in only Rs 2.41 crore so far. The last few days have witnessed collections hovering around Rs 1 lakh per day, indicating minimal traction in the Telugu-speaking regions. Overall, while regional versions are tapering off, The Final Reckoning continues to hold strong globally Check out our list of the latest Hindi , English , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , and Kannada movies . Don't miss our picks for the best Hindi movies , best Tamil movies, and best Telugu films .
