Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning 4K Ultra HD Review

THE MOVIE — 3/5

Plot Synopsis: Ethan Hunt (TOM CRUISE) and his team (VING RHAMES, SIMON PEGG, HAYLEY ATWELL) work to stop the rogue AI “Entity,” which has infiltrated global intelligence and is threatening to control nuclear weapons.

Review: Generally I’ve really liked the Mission: Impossible franchise, seeing each one in theaters going back to the first in 1996. Although Mission: Impossible II didn’t exactly hit the mark with super-spy Ethan Hunt employing martial arts skills that he never does again in subsequent sequels, I still found some entertainment value in the John Woo directed venture. Where the series really took a turn was with Mission: Impossible III with a slicker direction from J.J. Abrams with the espionage aspect that Abrams was skilled at with Alias, coupled with a truly viscious villain masterfully played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Brad Bird would helm the wonderfully entertaining Ghost Protocol and although its villain was hardly memorable, the action scenes took it up a notch.

The franchise really found its footing, and Cruise abandoning a new director for each entry, when he teamed up with Christopher McQuarrie in Rogue Nation followed by Fallout and Henry Cavill showing his duality as the head of the Syndicate. Where for me the series took a bit of a downturn was Dead Reckoning Part One (now just called Dead Reckoning) and this one, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, both films getting, for the first time, the back story on Ethan Hunt and how he became a member of the IMF. In that regard I did like we finally get some character development, unfortunately Final Reckoning sort of dropped this. And for the entire plot building in Dead Reckoning, for some reason this one still was a staggering 169 minutes, much of is fluff, although I will say bringing back William Donloe was pretty cool and wasn’t just there for nostalgia and actually made a contribution to the team.

In addition, despite some amazing stunt sequences, kind of reminded me of John Wick 4 where the less is more should’ve been utilized as the stunts went on way too long and really lost much of the suspense and thrills and instead of helping further the plot it was to how much they could push the boundaries in stunt work. That’s not to say I wasn’t impressed with what Cruise and McQuarrie did in pushing the limit but by the end and the bi-plane sequence was dragged down as Hunt goes after Gabriel, a villain who is easily the worst in the series and his motives, albeit clumsily spelled out still didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3½/5

This release comes with a slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. For being the final film of the series (at least with Tom Cruise), the features outside of the commentary tracks is pretty lackluster.

Audio Commentaries:

• Director Christopher McQuarrie and Actor Tom Cruise
• Director McQuarrie, Editor Eddie Hamilton, and First Assistant Director Mary Boulding
• Composers Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey, and Score Producer Cecile Tournesac

Behind the Scenes (17:03)

• Taking Flight (5:48) goes into Tom Cruise’s love of flying and integrating it into the franchise and specifically the final action sequences and preparation to filming it.
• To the Depths (3:17) goes into the filming of the submarine scene.
• To the North (3:36) is on filming in Norway.
• Through the Mine (2:44) delves into the mine sequence near the end of the film.
• The Score (1:35) features interviews with the composers and the process of scoring the movie.

Editorial Content

• Deleted Footage Montage (9:35) is just a compilation of scenes not used. Includes optional commentary with McQuarrie.
• Olifants River Canyon (9:11) covers the bi-plane sequence filmed in South Africa. Optional Commentary with McQuarrie.
• Bi-Plane Transfer (4:03) goes into when Cruise going from one plane to the other in the test footage. Optional commentary with McQuarrie and Cruise.

Promo Spots (3:23) are compilation of short featurettes on key scenes.

• Parachute Burn
• Snorri Big Camera
• Jump Flip
• Long Wing

Galleries (13:51)

• Tom Cruise
• Christopher McQuarrie
• Collaboration
• Supporting Cast

VIDEO – 5/5

Paramount accepts the latest Mission with The Final Reckoning presented here in the original 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and a 2160p high-definition transfer (1080p for the Blu-ray). Detail on this was excellent and colors nicely balanced with black levels stark without appearing overly crushed. It’s a pleasant looking picture in either format.

AUDIO – 5/5

The movie comes equipped with a strong Dolby Atmos track which cranks into high gear during the action set pieces but also offers strong dialogue levels via the center channel with good clarity. The score also gives this track a solid boost making use of the front and back channels.

OVERALL — 3¾/5

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning might not be the grand or great send-off to this long-running franchise and while I certainly can admire the stunt work and Tom Cruise’s commitment, but the story was stretched thin. Still, this is not a bad movie but one that I doubt I’d ever revisit.