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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Review: I Choose To Accept Tom Cruise's Blockbuster Finale As An Explosive Kickoff To Summer Movie Season
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. On May 22, 1996, audiences accepted a mission that seemed impossible: a successful modern adaptation of a classic TV series. Tom Cruise and the Mission: Impossible franchise have long outlasted the original fad that gave it life, with almost 30 years under the belt of this Paramount Pictures franchise. But as we're commonly reminded, all good things must come to an end – which is part of why the eighth chapter in this series has been given the subtitle The Final Reckoning. That reality is bittersweet, because while this does feel like a big goodbye to Ethan Hunt, the story that's employed to bid this farewell is going to leave you wanting more. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Release Date: May 23, 2025Directed By: Christopher McQuarrieWritten By: Christopher McQuarrie & Erik JendresenStarring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Tramell Tillman and Angela Bassett, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, Mark Gatiss, with Rolf Saxon, and Lucy TulugarjukRating: PG-13, for sequences of strong violence and action, bloody images, and brief 169 minutes Two months after the events of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has once more gone into hiding. Refusing several requests to rejoin the fight against The Entity's malicious A.I. antics, the governments of the world are on the brink of all out war. With Ethan's Impossible Mission Force team still assembled (Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Pom Klementiff, and Ving Rhames) and nemesis Gabriel (Esai Morales) also remaining on the board, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning boils down to a four-day window that could spell nuclear armageddon. Anyone wondering if director Christopher McQuarrie's fourth entry in the Mission lexicon can be enjoyed without prior knowledge is in for a bit of a paradox. While The Final Reckoning does have tons of callbacks, flashbacks, and exposition that gives you the Cliff's Notes version of Ethan's exploits up to this point, having experiencing those previous adventures does lend depth to all of the shocking turns. That's something very important to consider, as our eighth and final joyride with superspy Ethan Hunt tries to tie up a whole lot of loose ends in its almost three-hour running time. Which is both a blessing and a curse, due to all of the moving parts this continuity has integrated over the last three decades. Let's just put some good news on the table right up front. As someone who's followed Mission: Impossible's movies from the beginning, I can confidently say that this is a proper finale to Tom Cruise's spy game. Even better still, I'm very happy to report that The Final Reckoning is a vast improvement from Dead Reckoning, despite being cut from the same story cloth. Following its slightly more convoluted predecessor, this picture starts in high gear, and doesn't let up until it crosses the finish line – which is something I'll always commend a nearly three-hour movie for being able to do. Perhaps it's the supposed finality of this eighth Mission that inspired Christopher McQuarrie and co-writer Erik Jendresen in plotting what's being billed as the swan song for this iteration of this espionage saga. The former's love for the 1996 franchise started is still clear throughout various choices in the narrative at work, with a gigantic hat tip to Mission: Impossible III poised to also give loyal IMF fans another moment to gleefully snap and point at the screen a la Rick Dalton. If you've missed the days of the more fleshed out team-based dynamic previous missions have contained, then consider that another jewel in The Final Reckoning's crown. Series newcomers Hayley Atwell and Pom Klemantiff get to land outstanding moments of quippy dialogue and intense action, while Simon Pegg's return boosts his role in the team to a point where Benji Dunn even gets to throw hands. Wrapping it all together is a pleasant undercurrent of humor, which keeps our IMF agents moving in a style more akin to the halcyon days of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Reintroducing that element also helps supporting cast members like Severance's Tramell Tillman make the most of their limited screen time. But that also ties into a slight downside to what the past couple of outings have been trying to do. Maybe it's because I've been invested in this series since the beginning that I find my own expectations for how Mission Impossible 8 would wrap to be slightly unfulfilled. Simultaneously, there are some instances where the dedication to the past is a little overzealous, with highlights featured in the opening montage being repeated at various points in the overall narrative. It's minor, and probably more suited for casual viewers who haven't owned a copy of Brian de Palma's original Mission: Impossible through three eras of physical media. But if you're a die hard for this saga, it really is a minor gripe when it comes to The Final Reckoning's well-paced thrill ride. Whereas Dead Reckoning felt like it flew a bit too fast when it came to setting up its narrative, Christopher McQuarrie's steady hand in co-writing and directing the sequel help right the ship. It's an apt metaphor considering Tom Cruise's voyage to the sunken wreckage of the Sevastapol is a prime example of the pacing. More recent Mission: Impossible adventures have made it a habit of advertising a massive practical stunt as the big draw, which has left the story a bit lacking in other places. There's still a pretty huge feat on display with Cruise's madness-inducing biplane chase sequence, and that moment is as fantastic as advertised. But the true star of the show is the submarine adventure, which pushes Ethan to even more extreme circumstances. The Sevastapol sequence couldn't have been placed at a more perfect point in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning's story either. Taking place in Act II, this moment galvanizes the final act with well earned urgency; which is only goosed along even further by the return of Angela Bassett as President Erika Sloane. As we frequently cut back to the President and her advisors as the weigh their options to beat The Entity, the film shifts into a small-scale remake of Sidney Lumet's Fail Safe. Considering Christopher McQuarrie loves to reference classics like Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much as much as he enjoys connecting previous Missions, the result helped me forget the fact that this cadre doesn't really get much development in the grand scheme of things. While the massive cast of players in The Final Reckoning don't all get proper setups and payoffs, cast members like Holt McCallany and Nick Offerman do their best to keep us invested, through a combination of gravitas and shorthand. If there's any one thing that makes the 'final' Mission: Impossible film worth seeing, it's that it's a timely story that doesn't go too wild with its message. The Entity's power of misinformation is better fleshed out in this conclusion, as we see the consequences it has on the larger world. Modern concerns over A.I., deep fakes, and fake news are reflected rather brilliantly here and in a way that doesn't preach to the audience. Once more, Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie's combined talents have given us a summer blockbuster worth showing up for. Come to think of it, the whole premise of rethinking reality and examining long held narratives a bit harder plays even better in The Final Reckoning, as one of the core questions asked in this tale cuts down to something the pickiest audience member may have asked long ago: is Ethan Hunt really good at his job? Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning has lit the fuse on summer movie season, and the resulting explosion is one that other legacy-adjacent titles are going to have to reckon with. The eighth outing for this action-adventure mainstay proves that stakes are back, humor is back, and Ethan Hunt has arrived for audiences to trust him… one last time. And to put a more familiar spin on things, I firmly believe that you should choose to accept this mission.
Miami Herald
23-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
AI may cause a college graduate job crisis. What should young people do?
There's comforting news for veteran office workers and professionals, but bad news for recent college graduates. When it comes to the future of jobs, new data suggest that artificial intelligence (A.I.) may threaten young people's employment prospects more than any other group. Recent studies show that we're very close to a college graduate unemployment crisis, because entry-level white collar jobs are the easiest to be replaced by artificial intelligence. Most graduates entering the workforce do repetitive research and number-crunching jobs — precisely the ones A.I. does best. Unemployment among U.S. college graduates has risen 30%, from 2% to 2.6%, since September 2022. By comparison, unemployment among the general population has grown by only 18%, from 3.4% to 4%, according to Federal Reserve Bank of New York data. The ADP Research Institute, which specializes in labor market data, said in a report that 'finding a job has become harder' for young college graduates. This is not due to an oversupply of graduates: In fact, full-time student enrollment at U.S. higher education institutions has fallen in recent years, as The Wall Street Journal reported on May 19. A recent survey of 3,000 executives by LinkedIn, the social media platform, found that 63% agreed A.I. will eventually eliminate the jobs currently done by entry-level employees. Curious about how A.I. will impact all jobs — including mine — in the future, I contacted last year's co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics Daron Acemoglu. In a wide-ranging interview, he told me that he doesn't think experienced attorneys, accountants, physicians, teachers or journalists will lose their jobs to A.I. — at least not over the next 10 years. 'I would not want an A.I. to represent me in court,' Acemoglu told me. 'We're not going to see the end of lawyers, accountants, auditors, marketing professionals. These are deeply complex jobs.' He added that current A.I. models and the ones that are likely to be developed in the near future will be able to handle parts of these jobs, but not replace humans entirely. 'The same for physicians,' he said. A.I. is getting better and better at diagnosis, but there is a lot of tacit knowledge that doctors gain through experience that A.I. will find hard to replicate, he added. A doctor learns a lot from a patient's body language, or from the way a person describes his pain, or from the way different parts of the body react when touched, Acemoglu explained. But when I asked him about A.I.'s impact on young people's employment opportunities, he started by saying, 'Well, I'm worried, I wouldn't hide that from you.' As for what advice he's giving his students and other young people these days, he said they should focus on specialization and flexibility. 'The advice I would give is to build very specialized skills that they can be excellent in some domain, so that they are a potential partner for AI, not a target,' he said. And flexibility is essential, too, 'because you need to change what you do as technology changes,' he added. Acemoglu, who teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), says a small group of technology barons who dominate the industry are partly to blame for the college graduate unemployment problem. They are creating A.I. programs to help companies cut costs by eliminating jobs, rather than focusing on increasing productivity and creating more jobs. I confess that, after speaking with Acemoglu and other experts in recent months, I'm less optimistic than I used to be. When I wrote my 2018 book 'The Robots Are Coming,' about the future of jobs in the age of automation, I was a cautious techno-optimist. I tended to believe the technology industry mantra that new technological breakthroughs always end up creating more jobs than they destroy. But now? I'm not so sure. Think about it: When Henry Ford rolled out the car manufacturing assembly line in the early 20th century, sure, carriage makers and stable hands lost out. But whole new industries were created to build roads, bridges, tires and other car parts. But today, when a supermarket replaces a human cashier with an automated checkout machine, that job usually just disappears. To be sure, having a college — or, better, a graduate — degree is more important than ever. Even the latest figures show that those with college diplomas are much less likely to be unemployed than the general population. But it's imperative for high schools and colleges to teach students, in addition to specialized skills, how to use A.I. as a tool in their careers — not just as an enhanced Google search engine. That would help college graduates get jobs that until recently were reserved for people with two or three years of work experience. Without that, A.I. may end up hurting recent graduates more severely than it affects older, more experienced workers. Don't miss the 'Oppenheimer Presenta' TV show on Sundays at 9 pm E.T. on CNN en Español. Blog:
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Allen Iverson said the Sixers failed to honor his legacy: "After everything I did for them… I don't think it had to end the way it did"
In the NBA, breakups between players and franchises are part of the business, but they don't always end cleanly. Some leave behind more tension than resolution. Allen Iverson's departure from the Philadelphia 76ers is a striking example. After more than a decade as the heart of the team, his exit became a drawn-out, emotional process. Months later, while already playing for the Denver Nuggets, "The Answer" looked back and admitted it shouldn't have been so complicated. An unceremonious departure Iverson's NBA journey started in 1996, when the Sixers picked him first overall — a choice that would shape the team's future for years to come. Advertisement Even though he stood just six feet tall, the Virginia native played with a fearless attitude that made him stand out. Game after game, he brought relentless intensity to the court, making his size irrelevant and clearly capturing Philadelphia's grit, elevating him from a star to a true symbol of the city's resilience. Iverson's achievements during a decade-plus tenure in Philly speak for themselves: MVP in 2001, a Finals appearance that year, multiple scoring and steals titles, several All-Star selections and All-NBA First Team honors. Given all that, you'd expect Allen's departure — no matter who initiated the trade — to be handled carefully. After all, he had truly earned that. But instead, it turned into a long, messy process heavily covered by the media, ending only when A.I. was finally traded. How the 76ers' front office handled it is something the legendary guard never fully accepted. Advertisement "After everything I did for them in Philadelphia," he later said, "I don't think it had to end the way it did." Related: "Graduations don't win or lose games" - Vince Carter's mom hit back at critics who said his graduation was the reason the Raptors lost Game 7 to Philly in 2001 Shut out in Philly, saved in Denver What exactly bothered Iverson about the chaotic ending in the "City of Brotherly Love"? The 1997 Rookie of the Year explained this by admitting it was "them not letting me play, not letting me into the arena." In the end, it wasn't the trade itself that hurt the most, but how the team pushed him aside early in the 2006-07 NBA regular season, when the Sixers were struggling with a 5-10 record. Advertisement Trade rumors had been circulating since the previous summer, and reportedly, "The Answer" made his feelings clear after that disappointing start: he wanted to leave for good. However, rather than quickly resolving the situation, the franchise, still aware of Iverson's value, left him in limbo, keeping him off the court and even away from the arena. Weeks passed before anything changed. Finally, in December, Iverson and Ivan McFarlin were traded to the Nuggets in exchange for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first-round picks in the following NBA Draft. In the end, although many parts of how his former team handled the situation frustrated him, A.I. admitted that ending up in Colorado was something he was grateful for. He said he was appreciative that then-Sixers GM Billy King had sent him there. When asked why, Allen explained that he felt "like a whole new person" with his new team and believed the trade was "probably the best thing that could have happened" to him. Advertisement Iverson's personal manager at the time, Gary Moore, also pointed out this shift, saying, "This trade changed him. He finally got to see the other side of life. He sees how life really can be." Related: Kyle Korver said Sixers players were desperate for Allen Iverson to leave the team in 2006: "We want it to be over… just want to move on"
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Waymo Recalls 80% of Robotaxis for Updates as L.A.'s Service Industry Goes Cyborg
Seventy-five years ago, a new kind of drive-in restaurant opened on Beverly Boulevard in Hollywood. The Track promised to do away with carhops (and tipping) by sending food down a conveyor belt directly to waiting automobiles parked around the building. The place lasted for about five minutes until the drive-thru window was born, but employers have long dreamed of eliminating pesky humans from the workplace. Restaurants, warehouses and now taxicabs are increasingly becoming automated as robots learn our jobs. For now, robo-lattes in Glendale and bionic pizzerias in East Hollywood are a fun novelty but when the A.I. is piloting two-and-a-half tons of British luxury car down the road, things can go wrong. Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, recently issued a recall for more than 80% of its fleet of 1,500 cars operating in Los Angeles, Austin, Phoenix, and San Francisco. Those Jaguar I-Pace robotaxis are under scrutiny after several high-profile incidents found the high-tech vehicles on the wrong side of the road, slowly crashing into telephone poles or trapping customers inside while doing donuts. This is at least the third recall and software update since last year when the company reported nine collisions, according to TechCrunch. 'Driverless cars,' Waymo said in a statement. 'Reduced injury causing collisions by 81% compared to expected human performance.' A Waymo in West Hollywood recently gave a little love tap to an Uber Eats Serve bot attempting to cross La Cienega Boulevard with someone's dinner. Next year, Volkswagen plans to roll out it's retro van ID Buzz AD on L.A. streets in partnership with Uber, right as Zoox, Amazon's capsule-shaped pushmi-pullyu hits the road. The concerns are not stopping the mechanical men from their goal of eliminating the puny mortal workforce. 'The robots don't take time off,' Shahan Ohanessian, CEO of cyborg-run convenience store VenHub told NBC. 'They're working seven days a week and they don't really celebrate holidays.' He also noted that the machines recently installed in Glendale and North Hollywood are bulletproof should anyone choose to go to war with our new robot overlords.
CNBC
19-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Stocks making the biggest moves midday: UnitedHealth Group, Tesla, Alibaba and more
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. UnitedHealth — The health insurer's stock popped roughly 7% as investors scooped up shares of the beaten-down name, which lost 23% last week. UnitedHealth had suspended its 2025 guidance, announced that its CEO is stepping down and is reportedly the subject of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation . Reddit — Shares of the social media stock dropped more than 4% following a downgrade to equal weight from overweight at Wells Fargo. The firm said search traffic disruptions at Reddit are likely to become lasting as Google's search integrates full artificial intelligence capabilities. Tesla , Palantir — Shares of retail investor favorites Tesla and Palantir each slid more than 3% as key tech stocks led Monday's stock market losses. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals — Shares of the drugmaker dropped about 1% after the company announced it had agreed to pay $256 million to buy most of the assets of genetic data company 23andMe out of bankruptcy. Regeneron's deal does not include Lemonaid Health, 23andMe's telehealth subsidiary. Bath & Body Works — Shares ticked 1% lower after the personal care retailer said CEO Gina Boswell would step down immediately. The company said former Nike executive Daniel Heaf would replace her. Alibaba — U.S.-listed shares of the Chinese e-commerce giant traded 1% lower after the New York Times reported that the Trump administration has raised concerns about Apple' s plan to use Alibaba's A.I. on iPhones in China. TXNM Energy — Shares of the energy company popped 7% after TXNM agreed to be acquired by Blackstone's infrastructure unit. TXNM Energy shareholders will receive $61.25 in cash for each share as part of the deal. — CNBC's Alex Harring, Jesse Pound and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
