After viewers finally got their first look at the sequel, Shea Whigham has an exciting early review forMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. The next installment of the action franchise will see Whigham return alongside fellow franchise stars Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Henry Czerny, Angela Bassett and Greg Tarzan Davis.The Final Reckoningcarries on the storyfromDead Reckoning’s ending, in which Cruise’s Ethan Hunt continues his search for The Entity and stop Morales' Gabriel from claiming the AI for himself.
During a recent interview withScreen Rantfor his upcoming dramedyLake George, Whigham was asked about what viewers could expect fromMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. The star was quick to caution he couldn’t share anything, having “already gotten my hand slapped” for sharing too much,but did offer an early review of the film instead, promising it will be “so good” and that all of Cruise and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie’s comments hyping it up are “not hyperbolic”. Check out what Whigham shared below:
I’ve already gotten my hand slapped for saying things that I shouldn’t say, and someone on this call would be upset with me. I’ll tell you this, Cruise and McQuarrie are not hyperbolic. They love cinema, they’re both cinephiles. This thing is so good. This next one, it’s really, really good. It’s because it’s grounded in character, and that’s what McQ knows, McQuarrie knows, so well. They give everyone a little slice, a little moment. We know that Tom is the sun, and we revolve around that, and we’re happy to do that, honestly, but they always give everyone a little bit. It’s very rewarding to do them. And Carrie, I’m going to bring her on to the next Mission, and she’s going to bring me into the Ghostbusters next.
What This Means For Mission: Impossible 8
Cruise & McQuarrie Have Pulled Out All The Stops For The Final Reckoning
While it may be easy for some to consider Whigham’s comments as a star wanting to make their movie sound as good as possible,Cruise and McQuarrie’s history has certainly set a precedent forMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoningto live up to his review. From his first outing in the franchise, McQuarrie’s tenure has turned out the best-reviewed installments of the series, with 2018’sFalloutlanding an impressive and near-perfect 98% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Check out howtheMission: Impossiblemoviescompare on Rotten Tomatoes in the chart below:
65%
71%
56%
42%
69%
94%
76%
87%
98%
88%
96%
Beyond just the reviews,Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoningalso has the benefitof being the most expensive installment yet. While no final figure has been confirmed by Paramount, recent reports have indicated the eighth installment is nearing $400 million, primarily due to various production delays, surpassingDead Reckoning’s previous franchise-high $291 million price tag. Though the saying “bigger is better” isn’t necessarily always true with movie sequels, McQuarrie’s increasingly rave success paired with his larger budgets should instill further confidence in audiences about Whigham’s early review.
Will Mission: Impossible 8 Actually Be The Franchise’s Finale?
Paramount Is Certainly Painting It As Such
While Whigham’s review is sure to be an exciting tease of what’s to come from the sequel, one of the things it doesn’t actually share insight for iswhetherMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoningwill indeed be the finale for the franchise. Beyond just the title’s inclusion of “Final”, a recent report also indicated that Paramount was looking to promote the film as the final installment in the hopes of drumming up audience interest. ConsideringDead Reckoningproved to be a box office disappointmentafter going up against Barbenheimer, it makes sense that the studio would be exploring every possible angle to reverse this.
Despite grossing a seemingly impressive $570.6 million,Dead Reckoningwas reported to have lost Paramount upward of $100 million after factoring in marketing costs along with its net $219 million production budget.
That said, considering the ongoing success Cruise and McQuarrie have enjoyed with recentMission: Impossiblemovies from a review perspective,it does seem difficult to believeThe Final Reckoningwill bring the franchise to a close. Cruise himself has expressed his desire to keep playing Ethan Hunt for as long as the storytelling remains fresh, wanting to even surpass Harrison Ford playing Indiana Jones into his 70s. McQuarie has also previously indicated having future ideas for the franchise beyond the initial-two-partDead Reckoningplan.
Ultimately, the two biggest hurdles going forward will beCruise’s schedule and howMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoningperforms at the box office. Cruise recently signed a major first-look deal at Warner Bros., which is already resulting in his new movie withThe Revenant’s Alejandro G. Iñárritu, though is working withParamount on bothTop Gun 3andDays of Thunder 2. IfThe Final Reckoningproves to be as acclaimed as its recent predecessors and can redeem the box office disappointment ofDead Reckoning, it seems likely the studio will reverse their decision on wanting to close out the franchise.
Our Take On Whigham’s Mission: Impossible 8 Review
Cruise & McQuarrie Haven’t Missed, Even Beyond The Franchise
Though theMission: Impossiblefranchise may be their most notable partnership, McQuarrie and Cruise’s success streak extends well beyond it, with only a brief miss coming with 2017’sThe Mummy. Their first outing with 2008’s historical thrillerValkyrieallowed Cruise to break away from the action genre, while their work on the firstJack Reachermovie was an entertaining and fairly faithful adaptation of the character, barring the difference in height betweenCruise and Lee Child’s eponymous hero. McQuarrie was also involved in major rewrites forEdge of TomorrowandTop Gun: Maverick, which worked in both films' favor.
Every Tom Cruise Movie Written By Christopher McQuarrie, Ranked By IMDb
From Valkyrie and Mission: Impossible to Jack Reacher, find out how IMDb users feel about the Tom Cruise movies written by Christopher McQuarrie.
As such, I’m fully ready to believe Whigham’s early praise forMission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. To his point, McQuarrie does generally ensure that the characters' developments feel just as important as the large-scale set pieces, and just from the trailers alone, it seems clear that he’s built an epic closure toDead Reckoning’s cliffhanger, and potentially the franchise, should reports of Paramount wanting to bring it to a close be true.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
Cast
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning follows Ethan Hunt and his team as they pursue a formidable AI called the Entity that has compromised global intelligence networks. With new allies and a haunting figure from Hunt’s past in pursuit, they must act quickly to avert a global catastrophe.
