Movies aren’t cheap to make, and behind those massive blockbuster numbers that have seen several films now cross the billion-dollar mark, modern cinema has given way to ballooning budgets. Movies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World Dominion, and Fast X take the cake for high budgets. Also on that list of most expensive movies ever made is a massive, high-stakes conclusion to a 30-year-old action franchise that is now streaming on Prime Video.
We’re talking about Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the eighth and final installment in the Tom Cruise-led action spy franchise that began back in 1986. It took a massive $300–$400 million budget to conclude Ethan Hunt’s story, the lower end of that making it at least tied with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Justice League, and Solo: A Star Wars Story as the 19th costliest movie ever. The higher end puts it within the top 10. The movie started streaming on Prime Video on April 3rd and sees Hunt and his IMF team in a race against time to locate a sunken submarine and destroy a sentient AI threatening global catastrophe.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Is a Near-Perfect Final Movie for Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt
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Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’s massive production budget paid off in some major ways. Although the film’s budget meant its $598 million worldwide gross fell short of its break-even point and ultimately made the movie a box office disappointment, it still smashed franchise records. The film’s $204 million worldwide and $64 million domestic opening delivered the Mission: Impossible franchise’s best opening ever. It also set a franchise best for IMAX openings with $15.3 million. In terms of overall consensus, the movie was a hit. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning earned both “Certified Fresh” and “Verified Hot” badges on Rotten Tomatoes with a high 80% critic score and even better 88% audience rating.
The movie was an all-around great send-off for the franchise and a perfect final act for Cruise’s Ethan Hunt. The entire movie is a massive, high-octane love letter to the 30-year franchise that looks back at Hunt’s journey and connects plot elements from the entire seven-film series to leverage both nostalgia and a deeper emotional tone. Final Reckoning also delivers the exact type of high-stakes, practical stunts fans expect from the franchise, including a high-stakes airplane sequence and an intense, claustrophobic submarine that perfectly showcase Hunt’s capabilities and serve as a culmination of his previous adventures. And it all leads into an emotional finale that feels like a fitting conclusion to Hunt’s story.
What’s New on Prime Video?
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning isn’t the only movie freshly streaming on Prime Video. On April 1st, the Amazon streamer stocked dozens of great titles in its catalog, including Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, The Terminator, and Titanic, with others scheduled to be added throughout the month.
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