The Final Reckoning | Tom Cruise cuts off the internet for us

"You spent too much time on the Internet."
Aboard an Ohio-class nuclear submarine, Ethan Hunt utters this line while grappling with a crew member controlled by The Entity.

To me, this isn't just a quip aimed at the crew—it’s a line directed at all of us in the audience, who are watching it with a bittersweet feeling, preparing to say farewell to the Mission: Impossible saga. Ethan Hunt will retire eventually. The impossible missions will come to an end. Even the ever-handsome Tom Cruise will grow old. And cinema—the great medium that has carried our joys and sorrows for over 130 years—seems to be fading from the stage of history. What might bring about its end is, ironically, mobile-based short videos in the internet era.

In that sense, the "You" in the line clearly refers to all of us—those who walk into the cinema still clutching our phones.

Mind the following spoilers. (Though I don't much care. After all, The Entity thrives on spoilers.) Ethan defeats the soldiers and he brings down The Entity, both depending on global networks. In doing so, he symbolically destroys the internet itself—a system that once connected humanity at the end of the 20th century, but which has since become saturated with misinformation and, ultimately, turned into a tool of enslavement.

This destruction, however, comes with enormous side effects—something the Black female U.S. President warns us about. She may have been designed as a narrative stand-in for former Vice President Kamala Harris, and she delivers her warning before Ethan decides whether to take down the internet entirely. But earlier in the film, at the very beginning of M:I 8, this President also offers a heartfelt message of recognition that self-destructs after he has listened to it. It acts as a commendation for Ethan's lifelong service—a touching narrative device clearly crafted by the screenwriters as a kind of retrospective on his career, or even a farewell speech.

In a rapid montage of fragmented flashbacks, audiences relive the iconic moments on screen over the past 30 years: Ethan and the IMF team's many missions, triumphs, and sacrifices. We’ve watched Tom Cruise grow from a charming eye candy into a hands-on action icon, and now, into an aging legend marked by lines on his face. For viewers who’ve been with the series through all eight installments, this presidential address is bound to bring tears to the eyes.

30 years of “Mission: Impossible”

But! Presidential speeches always come with a “but.”
Old Ethan, you’re needed for one more mission.

When The Entity spreads disinformation so thoroughly that people stop believing in governments—or even in each other—the American President still believes she can control and safely deploy this AI. After all, her United States of America is the world's police, the beacon of democracy, the eternal future of humankind—just like the old man currently sitting in the Oval Office believes. If he can seize The Entity, he could impose tariffs or bully any nation at will. Even China and Russia wouldn’t dare to resist.

In this Final Reckoning, China and Russia are notably the last two nuclear powers—third-to-last and second-to-last—fully infiltrated and taken over by The Entity.

Still of “The Final Reckoning”

Among the film’s audience, those who can still manage to question the news they read online—or who maintain a healthy skepticism toward official narratives—are, of course, not going to believe the Black female President and her government. Just as they don’t believe their own leaders. So naturally, Ethan Hunt—who’s been rebelling for thirty years throughout this series—won’t hand over the keys and modules that can connect to The Entityto the President or the military.

Ethan continues to risk life and limb: fighting on the streets of London, diving into the depths of the Arctic Ocean, chasing a glider through the skies above South Africa. All of it follows the complex logic which Ethan emphasized to his IMF teammates many times—to manipulate Gabriel’s madness and greed, trap and destroy The Entity, and restore humanity to an old world without nukes, without fake news, and without the internet.

What was that world like before we became completely dependent on the internet?

We’d go out remembering bus routes by heart. We’d navigate roads using paper maps and road signs. When meeting strangers, we’d describe our clothing and the exact time and place to wait by phone. We’d ask for directions and haggle when traveling far from home.

If you were an agent like Ethan Hunt or James Bond, you’d carry a disguise mask, a multi-functional pen that could serve as a recording device and explosive at the same time, and drive a car with fake license plate into enemy territory. If you were unlucky enough to be captured, to avoid spilling under torture, you may bite into the cyanide capsule hidden beneath your molars, ending it all in silence.

Ethan almost does that early in The Final Reckoning. Of course, neither the financiers nor the audience would allow Tom Cruise to bow out so abruptly. And by the time the film ends, we’re still not certain whether this is really the end.

Poster of “The Final Reckoning”

I, too, am one of those that Ethan accuses of spending too much time on the internet. But even in these years of total mobile dependency, there have been rare, offline moments—like those of Ethan and his IMF team—when I’ve stepped outside the digital stream. I dive into the sea like Ethan or go on a manual four-wheel-drive (well, a husky sled team actually) through snowy forests like Grace.

But the moment I stop, I can’t help but rush to transfer the footage from my action cam to my phone and upload it to social media.

If there was really someone like Ethan Hunt who were to truly destroy The Entity and wipe out the internet, would I feel like I couldn’t breathe?

The film’s ending offers a somewhat idealistic, maybe even naïvely hopeful vision: the IMF team reunites at Trafalgar Square in London. Passersby are smiling, none of them staring at a phone.

Just like a nostalgic dream of the last century, one that's beautified by memory.

Concept poster of “The Final Reckoning”

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