Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning lands in cinemas next week, and the first critical reactions have called it "astonishing" and a "fitting finale" to the series – if this is the final outing for Tom Cruise's death-defying stunts as Ethan Hunt.
Both Dead Reckoning and The Final Reckoning were reported to be the "culmination" of the franchise, although writer/director Christopher McQuarrie hasn't completely shut the door on future outings.
We do know though that Mission: Impossible 8 is the conclusion of Dead Reckoning, seeing Ethan and his IMF team continue their mission to stop Gabriel (Esai Morales) and the AI program known as the Entity.
Ahead of its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival tomorrow, those lucky few to have already seen Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning have now taken to social media to share their reactions to the new movie.
"Absolutely astonishing action moments meet a sprawling story w/ many nods to past MI films. It's the biggest, wildest and most consequential Mission movie yet," praised Fandango's Erik Davis.
CinemaBlend's Mike Reyes added: "A VAST improvement over Dead Reckoning. Stakes are back, tension is back & a certain fav. sequel became a WHOLE lot more important. Despite some glossed-over story beats & the biggest loose thread in IMF history, it's a fitting finale."
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Other positive early reactions called The Final Reckoning "thrilling, emotional and satisfying", "exceptionally entertaining" and "show-stopping", but it wasn't all complete praise for the new movie.
"[It's] oddly the least action-forward entry in the franchise. It's long, it's plotty, it's repetitive, but when those scenes do hit? Holy shit. They're incredible. So I'm pretty mixed on it overall. High highs, low lows," wrote Gizmodo's Germain Lussier.
Film critic Adam Patla added: "When it's not overloading you with nostalgia-bait archival montages and baffling editing choices, Mission Impossible proves to be a fun, albeit underwhelming conclusion to the saga."
Other more mixed reactions called The Final Reckoning a "middle-of-the-road installment" and "plodding, overwritten, and unnecessarily convoluted".
Related: All you need to know about Mission Impossible 8
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning also brings back the likes of Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Greg Tarzan Davis and Pom Klementieff, while newcomers include Holt McCallany, Hannah Waddingham and Tramell Tillman.
There's also a blast from the past in the form of Rolf Saxon, reprising his role from the very first movie as William Donloe, while Angela Bassett is back as Erika Sloane after she missed out on Dead Reckoning.
Ahead of its release, the new movies has been confirmed to be the longest Mission: Impossible movie to date, clocking in at an epic 169 minutes long.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is released in UK cinemas on 21 May and in US cinemas on 23 May.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
