The Mission: Impossible films have given us so much, and never asked for anything in return other than for our jaws to drop. And drop they have, just as fast and far as Tom Cruise does whenever he’s filming a big stunt. The films are a love letter to the magic of practical stunt work, and the power of fun, escapist popcorn cinema at its finest. Now the countdown begins for what is rumored to be Cruise’s final bow as the incomparable Ethan Hunt, with Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning!
Today we got the latest trailer for the final installment in the nearly 30 year old franchise. And if I can be honest for a minute, while I loved every single film following M:I-3, I will say the franchise has never been the best when it comes to passing the Bechdel Test. While Cruise has absolutely proven himself as an icon through the mesmerizing character of Ethan Hunt, it’s disappointing to see that the franchise has a pattern of introducing some incredible female protagonists, and then almost immediately wasting them not long after.
What happened to Maggie Q’s character? How about Paula Patton’s? And they completely fridged easily the best character in the franchise next to Ethan Hunt with Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust, a show stopping veteran of the franchise since 2015’s Rogue Nation. While it’s nice to see a few new female characters get their due in the past two films, such as Hayley Atwell’s Grace (a random pick pocket who really came out of nowhere and is suddenly one of the main IMF team members), and Pom Klementieff’s Paris, one can’t help but feel like doom or a fate of fading into obscurity will likely come for these characters in ways that feel cheap, or ultimately anticlimactic. While I know The Final Reckoning won’t let us down in the stunts and action department, I only hope that it will also do some justice to bring closure to some of the franchise’s best female characters.
Perhaps a random and minor gripe in an overall satisfying franchise? However, as a long time fan of the franchise, since the age of 10, I really simply hope loose ends and plot holes can be patched as Ethan Hunt dives off another cliff and into the sunset of yet another impossible mission. Let’s check out The Final Reckoning trailer to find out!
We also got a final poster for the film which you can view right here:
