The Final Reckoning, in an unusual meta stroke, reveals what the franchise has always truly been: a man against the impossible, called upon only when the world, and the story itself, has run out of options.

Impossible character Ethan Hunt gamely takes on the burden, ad nauseam, of saving the world, Cruise genuinely thinks he can save cinema. His optimism is touching, if unrealistic. But as hard as he, and we,