Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

Story

The final instalment of the Mission Impossible series picks up a few months after the previous movie, Dead Reckoning Part One, left off, where Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has no choice but to embark on a relentless mission to stop ‘The Entity’, a rogue artificial intelligence that has infiltrated global networks and is intent on destroying the world.

Ethan reunites with his old team, including Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg), and is joined by Grace (Hayley Atwell) a pickpocket turned IMF agent, to retrieve a device that contains the original source code which is rumoured to lie hidden within the wreckage of a long-lost Russian submarine.

Racing against time to locate and secure this device – which is the only thing capable of containing or destroying the AI that intends to annihilate humanity – the team must outwit The Entity, outsmart the Russians and outmanoeuvre Gabriel (Esai Morales) an old enemy who is intent on taking control of The Entity and harnessing its power for his own sinister agenda. Meanwhile, the world teeters on the brink of destruction; nations fall to the power of The Entity; governments and individuals betray each other; and Ethan, the only one capable of potential mass salvation, is thwarted at every turn. Will this be the mission that finally proves impossible?

Themes

Global annihilation; the dangers of unchecked AI; world domination; violence as a means to solve problems or conflict; sacrifice; mistrust and betrayal

Violence

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has some violence. For example:

There are flashbacks of explosions and death, as places explode and people are shot.
Guards are punched, kicked, hit, tasered, and knocked unconscious.
Two characters are held at gunpoint.
A character is pistol-whipped.
Ethan and Grace are both shot and injected with a substance that knocks them unconscious.
There are flashbacks as Ethan’s wife is held captive and ransomed. She has been beaten and has a gun held to her head.
A torpedo sinks a submarine.
Two men try to kill Grace.
Ethan appears to try to take his own life with a cyanide pill but uses it as a means to escape his restraints. He then attacks 2 men. The violence happens off-screen but there are are lots of smashing sounds, and the men’s bodies are shown afterwards. One is crushed beneath some shelves, while another is lying dead with a knife in his back.
A nurse is stabbed to death and Luther is shackled to a bomb and killed.
Ethan is nearly trapped as tunnels collapse following an explosion.
Members of a security briefing are gassed.
Ethan is tasered by scuba divers as they emerge from the water.
A man tries to stab and kill Ethan as he runs on a treadmill.
Ethan’s team is targeted by Russians with machine guns and a firefight follows.
As characters fight, candles are knocked over and a house is engulfed in flames
A man’s face is pushed into the track of a still-running treadmill and the skin is sanded off. A knife is pushed towards Ethan’s throat.
Ethan is pulled through the water towards the turbines of a submarine.
There are images of a submarine attack, including people sliding, explosions, and bodies floating in the water.
Ethan is nearly squashed by torpedoes as he tries to navigate his way out of a tipping submarine.
Ethan must cut off his wetsuit and pack as he escapes through a torpedo tube. He suffers from decompression sickness and nearly freezes and drowns before Grace manages to rescue him.
There is a gun fight, in which Benji is shot.
There is a high-speed chase in an underground cavern. Jeeps ram each other and try to run each other down. Eventually, Ethan’s car flips onto its side.
Ethan is nearly hit by a plane. He climbs onto another as it is taking off and punches the pilot in the head before letting the pilot fall to his death.
Benji is cut with a knife and a pen is injected into his chest.
Two planes nearly crash into each other.
A president nearly bombs an American city.
Ethan and Gabriel do mid-air battle in 2 small planes. Eventually, Gabriel is forced out of his seat and slices his head open while falling backwards into the tail.
Ethan attempts to pilot a damaged plane as it catches fire. He ejects with a parachute which smoulders, then bursts into flames upon opening, and Ethan plummets to the ground.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

There’s no substance use in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Nudity and sexual activity

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

There are brief flashbacks of Ethan kissing his wife.
Ethan runs on the treadmill in his underwear.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Coarse language

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning has some coarse language - for example, ‘bastard’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is the 8^th and final instalment in the Mission Impossible franchise. The movie contains numerous intense action sequences, stunning landscapes and a fast-paced, albeit predictable, plot. The movie is best suited to viewers over 13 years.

These are the main messages from Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning:

We are the masters of our own fate.
No matter how impossible the situation seems, we always have choices.
The actions we choose define ourselves, our humanity and our future.

Values in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning that you could reinforce with your children include teamwork, trust, loyalty, resilience and sacrifice.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like these:

Relying too much on AI and allowing technologies to go unchecked or unmonitored.
Stopping at nothing to gain or maintain power.
Betraying those you love or people who trust you.
Using violence to get what you want.