Thirty years ago, a young but already extremely seasoned American actor decided to start a race against time bringing Ethan Hunt to life for the first time in cinema. Many of us grew up watching his movies, with him playing the most daring, disobedient and human agent of all. He pierced many generations, crossed all kinds of ideological borders and, in some way, convinced us that time, without any logic in my words, maybe was actually starting a race against him. The thing is, Tom Cruise, subject of analysis but mostly of entertainment, seems not to care about the inevitable passing of the years.
Not even the passing of days, minutes… not even seconds. Tom lives in the present.
He confronts time itself, nature fears him, and humanity is both fascinated and slightly terrified when this "alien" shows up. He's a gifted man who always manages to do something new. To reinvent himself. To DO instead of overthinking. To ride a motorcycle off a cliff and then dismount and parachute if necessary. To climb the highest building of the world with just some gloves. To give his all, understanding that today might be his last day on Earth. But mostly, he always manages to give the audience, or rather HIS audience, what they want. Tom Cruise is someone who, I dare to say, firmly believes in entertainment as nobody on this planet does.

On Tuesday morning, I witnessed the ending of the most iconic and important action saga of modern cinema, no matter who likes it, who hates it and who cares about it. I was able to witness an ending that, even though it didn't feel as such, implies a much bigger idea than any ending Ethan and his crew could have had. The thing is, all this was never about watching this rebel without a cause living happily in a farm with his wife, spending the rest of his years in peace. The word PEACE never, even for a moment, applied to neither Ethan nor Tom.
The film-making machine already has a couple projects under his sleeve—in an exchange with the press while visiting Mexico for this movie's premiere, Tom revealed that the shooting of Alejandro González Iñárritu's new movie has already finished—together with two of his regular collaborators, he promises to plunge into unknown lands:
- One will be the first movie completely shot in space. No CGI, no virtual production. Tom will become the first Felix Baumgartner of cinema. Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow, Jumper) will be in charge behind the scenes. NASA and SpaceX will collaborate for the space scenes.
- The second one will reunite the actor with Christopher McQuarrie, director of the last four Mission: Impossible installments, and Henry Cavill, the villain in Mission: Impossible - Fallout, the best one of the saga in my opinion. This one is titled Broadsword, an epic set in France during World War II—Oh yes, Hollywood is always thinking: "We've got a hundred thousand more stories about it."

Like I was saying, I think the whole fuss made by part of the press regarding the last installment with comments such as "too many flashbacks, too much self-homage, little history and a highly dense narration" is completely excessive. What truly matters, and without intent to dismiss this mythic character's arc and accomplishments, is the idea that, unlike what it's believed, film stars never went out. Tom is the living proof that the bond between the audience and the artist is stronger than ever. "Stars were the ones we had back then," might say an old grumpy man. "The good old days were better," says the neighbor while sweeping the streets. No. I refuse to believe that. I refuse to live stuck in what happened. I want to live in the present and feel thrilled about the future.
Today, cinema turns the page. It shows us that greater ideas can be reinvented with new means and that it's not a matter of believing everything is lost. At least that's how I see it engraved in Tom's artistic heart. I don't know if Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is the best action movie of the decade or of the saga. I haven't digested it yet. This half-baked ending immerses us directly from the beginning in a message the president, played by Angela Bassett, sends Ethan, in which she highlights the importance of his ironically anonymous figure. There's a recap of everything he experienced: his losses, his achievements, his effort, his kindness, his friendships and his lovers.

In some way, the ending is close. The last mission involves all Earth's governments and plunges into political matters like never before. The mission, if Ethan decides to accept it—we already know he will—is to track the origin of an AI called "The Entity," trick it to stop taking over the whole Planet's technology and get rid of Gabriel, one of his first enemies. Throughout 2 hours and 49 minutes, there's a narrative tempo that presents us with conspiracies and betrayals, but there's also a sense of positivism the saga had never aspired to before. The critique of our possible future "human robotization" is marked from all characters' perspectives. This mission is about believing in others, about union, despite the system convincing us of the opposite all the time.
Many times, we remember cinema legends after they have departed this life, like a compensation for what we feel we owe to them. Today, Tom Cruise is more alive than ever, alive as his movies, as the cinema he loves. And the one we love. And this is my small living tribute to an artist with a capital A.
Published on MAY 26, 2025, 19:59 PM | UTC-GMT -3
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