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Begotten of a TV show it has long since eclipsed in iconography and popularity, the Mission: Impossible film series belongs to the rarest pedigree of pop-IP remakes and adaptations. Not only more successful, longer-running, and, quite frankly, better than its source material, the franchise has also demonstrably influenced and improved the landscape of American action cinema. With the ostensible finale hitting theaters this spring in the form of The Final Reckoning, we accept this mission to celebrate a modern blockbuster staple with a weekly retrospective.
The franchise’s sixth and seventh films, Fallout and Dead Reckoning, were the two I was most interested in revisiting and writing about for this series, primarily because they constitute the starkest contrast I feel between any two adjacent entries—the former being better than even my wildest expectations for a Mission movie at that point in time, and the latter subsequently falling far short of that new standard set by the film before it.
My original review of Dead Reckoning was modestly positive—pocked with disappointment, but ultimately optimistic. 3.5 stars out of 5 is still a good movie; it just hurts a bit when you’re coming off a masterpiece.
My thoughts on the film have soured a bit more in the intervening years, though not drastically so—mostly, the ways in which Dead Reckoning failed to meaningfully expand upon (or, in some cases, even uphold) the characterizations of its heroes or to match the high standard of action the series has become known for have only festered in my mind with time.
But as someone who is, by aggregate, abnormally invested in the franchise, I have to recognize why the film seems to have worked better for most people than it did for me. The film sits at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, after all—second in the series only to Fallout‘s 98%.
Ultimately, Dead Reckoning is a perfectly fine movie; a solid popcorn blockbuster with a couple top-of-the-line action sequences and a plot that works just well enough to carry you comfortably through two and a half hours. Its story won’t blow you away, nor are the emotional arcs of its characters likely to stir up anything particularly strong within you. But in a basic sense, it works. If you’re new to the series or a casual fan, it’s serviceable—maybe even completely satisfactory.
But its issues are more glaring to nerds like me who feel more heavily invested in Mission: Impossible—its ongoing narrative and technical ambitions—and can’t help but compare the film unfavorably to its predecessors.
The film is just, frankly, a mess. From its frantic, haphazard editing (what the fuck is going on in the DNI scene between Hunt and Kittredge?) to its uninspired set pieces (I like the handcuff antics between Ethan and Grace, but does this car chase really do much we haven’t seen already?), everything feels just a little bit off.
The film even looks kind of strange—the apparent result of cinematographer Fraser Taggart’s use of camera lenses atypical of the action genre, according to director Christopher McQuarrie on his Empire Spoiler Specials episode on the film. I’m all for technical experimentation, especially bucking genre trends, but the broader lighting and wider, flatter angles do no favors for the film’s mood.
But more disappointing than technical downgrades is the mishandling of its characters—Ilsa more than anyone.
I talked in my original review about how Dead Reckoning‘s redefinition of Ethan specifically around the women in his life (particularly romantic partners) was a mistake; I think I still maintain that, though I don’t feel as strongly about it now. I think my issue with Ethan in the film has less to do with reducing him to a perpetually star-crossed lover, and more to do with the film’s handling of its female characters themselves.
By the end of Fallout, Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) had arguably become the most compelling supporting character in the series—as much a match for Ethan’s skill and grit as she was someone who could relate intimately to his isolating sense of duty. The fact that they seemingly also had some romantic chemistry felt like a perfectly natural curiosity that would arise between two people who share such a unique lived experience and similar emotional baggage. It’s a pretty fascinating relationship for an action franchise.
Such a rich foundation for the development of two characters, whether they actually became a couple or not, only highlights the stupidity of the choice to give Ilsa bare-minimum screen time and very little to do before killing her off in an emotionally arid fight with a stiff villain we don’t even know yet.
It just makes no sense, especially given how much writer-director Christopher McQuarrie has said he loves Ferguson’s performances in these films. She’s completely wasted here, and for what? To prove that no woman can breach Ethan’s emotional interior and live? Not really a philosophical rabbit hole I want to go down, but it’s, uh, clunky storytelling at best.
Of course, Ilsa’s untimely death only makes things more awkward regarding the introduction of new-face Grace (Hayley Atwell). I get that the movie needs to keep a tempo, but the speed with which Ethan (and the movie itself) seems to move past Ilsa’s death and into cute rapport with the younger-presenting Grace is just plain weird.
One thing McQuarrie is right about on his spoiler pod: Atwell is phenomenal in the role. Her ability to project earnest innocence and seasoned deviousness in a few subtle expressions within the same shot is something else; and even though the timing and tone of her supplanting Ilsa in the spotlight is awkward, I won’t deny that there is a compelling thematic element to her journey of “making the choice” to take the IMF path, under Ethan’s tutelage. (I also love Ethan’s intro scene, in which he instills confidence in a novice IMF agent who delivers him his mission brief; lots of good “Sensei Ethan” stuff in this movie!)
Two years later, I’m just still not entirely sure what to make of Dead Reckoning other than a lot of wasted potential and clunky character dynamics. I like a lot of little pieces of it, and yet overall it still feels scattershot and misguided. Sure, a lot of its issues can be blamed on the extensive obstacles placed upon production by the COVID-19 pandemic, but many of the film’s conceptual flaws run deep to its core.
Moreover, in 2025, a week before The Final Reckoning, I have no idea what the seventh chapter leads me to expect from the eighth. I hope the film is an improvement, and I think it will be, but I also never would’ve guessed Dead Reckoning would let me down as hard as it did. Hopefully, with a bit more distance from Ilsa’s death, Grace is able to flourish on her own, and Ethan’s ethos can be more cleanly defined once again in his (alleged) swan song. We’ll see.
Mission Accepted concludes with our review of The Final Reckoning next week.
Wishes he could forego sleep to watch more movies. Besides co-hosting Odd Trilogies and writing reviews, Andy builds Gundam models, loves on his three cats, and spends way too much time managing his Plex server. You can follow his movie-watching habits on Letterboxd.