I decided to rewatch every Mission: Impossible film to date about a month and a half before seeing this one. That was an excellent choice because in addition to be a part 2 this movie also pulls stuff from even older films in the series.
In specific, the movie picks up a plot point from Mission: Impossible III after a fashion. The MacGuffin in that movie—in classic JJ Abrams fashion—is left unexplained. This movie suggests that the villain AI from the previous film (Dead Reckoning) is in fact “evolved” from the Rabbit’s Foot. I kind of appreciate this nod given that the lack of explanation is pretty jarring when watching it, but it wasn’t a detail I remembered before my rewatch either. It’s a clear retcon though because the canister it’s in is obviously marked with a biohazard sign.
However a much much more compelling choice to bring in from older films is William Donloe. This is the guy in the vault where Ethan does the heist in the very first film—still arguably the most iconic scene in the series. It takes a throwaway line of this guy being sent to Alaska and turns it into an emotional moment. He even gets added to the ensemble for the rest of the movie! He is Yet Another Tech Guy, but him and his wife are very charming.
Finally, another reference to the first film is Briggs. This character was introduced in Dead Reckoning as a kind of secondary antagonist for our intrepid hero. This one has an extremely clumsy scene where we find out he’s secretly Jim Phelps Jr—the son of Ethan’s team-leader-turn-betrayer in the first movie. This reveal is both stupid and not really given enough time to work in the movie. But because it’s brief it doesn’t detract too much, either.
As far as the actual plot of the movie, this is a perfectly cromulent Mission: Impossible. We’ve got various MacGuffins and feats of Impossibility. As always it’s executed with craft and pretty good plotting—setups, payoffs, what have you. At this point these films are basically well oiled machine. If there is one complaint it’s that as a part 2 it should probably top the previous one’s set pieces but I don’t think it really did. But hey, it’s still a lot of fun. Oh also, they say “Final Reckoning” twice. I always love when they manage to work the title in.
An interesting choice that I don’t think I thought was well considered enough was killing off Luther (Ving Rhames). He’s the only character other than Ethan who has been in every single one. I guess that’s why they decided to kill him off finally? It’s kind of a cheap, quick moment though which I feel like should have had more weight.
Similarly, this kinda feels exactly like any other Mission: Impossible in terms of where it leaves us. I was almost expecting Ethan to die, but nope. Simon Pegg is still here and we have 3 new characters (all introduced in Dead Reckoning) on the team so they can just keep going forever. Why not, tbh.