David R. Walker

Archive for May, 2025

Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Easi Morales, Henry Czerny, Pom Klementieff, Angela Bassett, Ving Rhames, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Tramell Tillman, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Mark Gatiss, Cary Elwes, Pasha D. Lynchnikoff, Vanessa Redgrave, Jon Voight

Running Time: 2 hours and 49 minutes

Film Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Two years after the hugely successful Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning, the final film in the franchise has finally arrived and while the 2023 film was flashier and more glamourous, Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning is grittier and slightly retro in some scenes which director McQuarrie clearly takes inspiration for his film aesthetic from the 1960’s & 1970’s spy films. Think The Spy Who Loved Me and Diamonds are Forever.

Superstar Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in the final film which director Christopher McQuarrie expertly pays homage to all the previous films in the series especially the original Mission: Impossible directed by legendary auteur Brian de Palma back in 1996.

This film wraps up almost 30 years of possibly one of the most successful spy franchises next to the James Bond series.

Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning sees Ethan and his team including Simon Pegg as Benji and Hayley Atwell (Brideshead Revisited, The Duchess, Captain America: The First Avenger) reprising her role as Grace as they have to race against time, risking the fate of the world to control a megalomaniac artificial intelligence known as the Entity as it seeks quite malevolently to pit all the nuclear nations against each other.

While the plot of the Final Reckoning is quite far-fetched, the stunts are absolutely amazing particularly the claustrophobic diving scene inside a sunken submarine in which Ethan Hunt retrieves a special source code to the incredible vintage plane sequence over jaw dropping African mountains when Ethan and his evil nemesis Gabriel played again by Easi Morales are fighting atop a burning vintage plane.

Oscar nominee Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Whats Love Got to Do With it?) is sensational as the American President Erika Sloane who has the difficult task of protecting America while entrusting Ethan to contain the entity for eternity before there is an international nuclear fallout. Fortunately Bassett has a whole group of co-stars to play to.

There are several really crowded scenes in Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning, almost like chorus scenes in a theatre, which adds to the absolute spectacle of this film. For Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning to be appreciated you have to understand the theatricality of the film, the splendour and the phenomenal stunts. The end sequence is heart warming and suitably appealing with the scriptwriter tying up all the narrative loose ends.

While some of the flashback scenes are a bit excessive, this final outing of Mission: Impossible is amazing and definitely made for the fans. Look out for brief appearances by Vanessa Redgrave and Jon Voight who were in the original 1996 film. Tom Cruise is passionate about big screen spectacle and he achieves this in this worthy conclusion to a stylishly well executed spy franchise, which has seen the films being set all over the world.

Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning is brilliantly choreographed with some unbelievable sets and stunt sequences held together by a bursting cast full of talented actors wanting this beast of a film to be appreciated and supported.

Set in London, Austria, the Bering Sea and South Africa, Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning is pure escapism on a grand scale and gets a film rating of 8.5 out of 10.

Highly recommended viewing for those with a spare three hours to kill. The fate of the cinema world depends on the viewer going to see it. Trust me, the experience is worth it.

The Accountant 2

Director: Gavin O’Connor

Cast: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, J. K. Simmons, Daniella Pineda, Robert Morgan, Andrew Howard, Grant Harvey

Running Time: 2 hours and 12 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

Warrior director Gavin O’Connor returns to the director’s chair nine years later to helm the sequel to the 2016 film The Accountant simply titled The Accountant 2 assembling much the same cast including Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal and Cynthia Addai-Robinson.

Oscar winner Ben Affleck (Argo, Good Will Hunting) returns to the character of Christian Wolfe the autistic accountant who doubles as money launderer and tough guy who this time teams up with his younger brother Braxton superbly played with just the right amount of annoyance and arrogance by Jon Bernthal (The Wolf of Wall Street). The fraternal relationship between Christian and Braxton is brilliantly played on screen by the two actors who get that brotherly love right, which borders somewhere between affection and irritation with some competitiveness thrown in.

While the storyline by Bill Dubuque in this sequel is slightly confusing initially, he does introduce a more interesting character, that of Anais, an international assassin with a hidden past, whose memories could unlock a ruthless child trafficking ring operating between America and Mexico. Anais is well played by Mexican-American actress Daniella Pineda (Jurassic World: Dominion).

The child trafficking ring is run by the evil Burke, a middle level gangster who feels nothing at ordering the death of children. Burke is played by Robert Morgan with his henchman Cobb played by Grant Harper who was in the excellent TV show Animal Kingdom set in Southern California.

The Accountant 2 starts off with a hectic action scene in which one major character from the first film is eliminated and Cynthia Addai-Robinson who reprises her role as Marybeth Medina is asked to seek the assistance of Christian Wolfe.

Jon Bernthal really saves this sequel from being entirely boring and is excellent as the brash and dangerous Braxton, the antithesis to his older autistic brother Christian well played by Ben Affleck who makes a welcome return to the big screen after a long absence.

Set in locations from Los Angeles to Juarez in Mexico, from Berlin to Prague, The Accountant 2 is an interesting film made livelier by Jon Bernthal who is the most likable character. A third Accountant film is in the works, so let’s hope the finale is a lot flashier and entertaining.

If you enjoy action thrillers with an inventive storyline, then The Accountant 2 is recommended viewing and gets a film rating of 7 out of 10.

Worth seeing just to watch the killer brothers takes down the bad guys.