The following contains spoilers for Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, now playing in theatersTom Cruise even fired the stunt coordinators who wouldn't go to the lengths that he wanted to take the film, indicating how seriously the star takes this aspect of the film.
The purposefully conclusive nature of Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning gives everything an extra sense of weight, whether that's the death of long-time characters or the sheer stakes at play while the IMF tries to prevent World War III. While The Final Reckoning's plane scene has been getting the most attention, there's another sequence in the film that starts out as a perfect showcase for what has always made the franchise special — only for the resolution of the sequence to break any remaining tension. It's the best and worst parts of Mission: Impossible all at once.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning's Submarine Scene, Explained
The Final Reckoning Set Up Ethan's Heist Of The Sunken Sevastopol In The Previous Film
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning's submarine heist is simultaneously the best and worst elements of the film (and by extension the entire franchise) all rolled up into one scene. After discovering the location of the sunken Russian submarine known as the Sevastopol contains the Entity's base programming, Ethan dons a highly powered diving suit to reach the bottom of the known ocean. Making his way inside the sub, Ethan is able to recover the artificial intelligence. However, the sub is knocked loose and rolls to a cliff underwater, forcing Ethan to scramble to find a way out of the situation.
It's a very fun concept, effectively serving as The Final Reckoning's version of the iconic CIA heist from the very first film in the series. Once again, Ethan is tasked with a nearly impossible task, only this time the silence is haunting instead of intense. As Ethan explores the frozen remains of the sub and es the crew who never escaped, the film finds a natural sense of dread that turns into exciting intensity once the sub starts moving and Ethan finds himself trying to figure out how he's going to find his way out of this one.
Final Reckoning's Best Visual Trickery Is During The Submarine Scene
One The Final Reckoning's Coolest Scenes Is A Reminder Of How Inventive The M:I Series Has Always Been
One of the best things about the Mission: Impossible franchise is the way it challenges blockbuster directors to craft wild new visuals. Tom Cruise's long-standing love for practical effects, coupled with the sheer scope of the franchise's approach to action set-pieces, gives directors plenty of leeway and freedom to play with the finest filmmaking tools on the planet. The submarine scene is, at least at first, a perfect example of that concept in action.
The submarine scene has a haunting beauty to it as Ethan descends deeper into the ocean, slowly turning into grand awe at the sight of the submarine. Ethan Hunt retains a certain amount of humanity as he explores the sub, lending the entire sequence a certain somber tone that benefits the film's approach to Hunt. The best visual trick though, is when the sub starts rolling. Ethan realizes what's happening and moves along with the roll to compensate, walking on the side of the sub as the water slowly shifts in the other direction.
It's a genuinely tense and visually arresting sequence, a scene that even critics of the film (and the franchise as a whole) have to acknowledge as a genuine work of film craft...
The result is a genuinely beautiful frame, where Ethan looks at the water as it naturally forms a diagonal arc. It's a bewildering and clever shot, raising the stakes gradually so that the sudden increase in the roll comes with a clear escalation. Even as Ethan starts swimming through the sub looking for an exit, the now loose torpedoes risk crushing him and blocking his path. It's a genuinely tense and visually arresting sequence, a scene that even critics of the film (and the franchise as a whole) have to acknowledge as a genuine work of film craft on display.
Final Reckoning Becomes Too Ridiculous With The Submarine Scene
After Reiterating The Danger Ethan Is In, The Movie Ignores Any Longterm Consequences
It's a shame that the rest of the scene diverges so hard that The Final Reckoning becomes next to impossible to take seriously. After discovering that his special wet-suit, designed to help him survive the intense pressure, won't fit through his only remaining exit point, Ethan decides to cut it off with a knife and climb through the torpedo chute in his underwear. After making it out into the open water, Ethan then swims a great distance in the frigid water, through the intense pressure, and reaches the frozen-over surface of the ocean, at which point he drowns.
Ethan is then saved by Grace, revived with a short rest period in an anti-deprivation tent, and is hanging onto the sides of planes within days. It's a wild turn that breaks the suspension of disbelief necessary for the film to operate. After spending earlier scenes underscoring how important the wetsuit was to Ethan's survival, the film brushes it off (as well as the near-death of Ethan) as a minor hiccup. What makes it so frustrating is that the film spent such a good amount of time setting up the stakes of the sequence and the consequences of a mistake.
Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible Future After The Final Reckoning Gets Confident Update From Cast: "I Bet He's Got More Running To Do"
Angela Bassett, Hayley Atwell and Simon Pegg address Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible franchise future after the Final Reckoning.
The Sevastopol rolling off a cliff is an inherently great visual and concept, and it's exciting to see Ethan escape. It's no more inherently ridiculous than the rest of the series. However, it's frustrating because how Ethan survives destroys any tension. If he can survive a twist that the film repeatedly emphasized would be inherently fatal, then there's little reason to fear for the character's life. This bears out in the finale, where Ethan's luck and skills allow him to ignore potentially fatal consequences several times. It ruins the tension of the movie, which is a shame.
Final Reckoning's Sub Scene Is Everything Cool And Wrong With M:I
A Great Visual That Makes The Story More Unbelievable
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is both a celebration of the entire franchise and a potential closing chapter for the series. In that sense, the movie is a success. The movie reaches some truly wild visual highs and pushes the boundaries of stunt performance in the world of cinema. The submarine scene is gorgeous on a visual level and incredibly impressive on a technical level, even when it becomes ridiculous. Ethan's "drowning" is beautifully shot, with a moving camera that turns and positions Ethan as fading into another world and away from the surface that needs him.
However, the sheer absurdity of seeing Ethan Hunt swim for miles, ignoring the warnings the film had given earlier about the mission, and then be perfectly fine after a stint in a tent cuddling with Hayley Atwell's Grace is a step too far. It undercuts the tension in the rest of the movie, at least in regards to Ethan's survival. If actually drowning on-screen wasn't going to put Ethan down for good, it's hard to believe that Gabriel, the Entity, or even the force of gravity are going to be the end of him.
Mission: Impossible is a series that has more than earned the adoration of its fans and the respect of its critics. There are very figures left in the film industry who use the blockbuster space as a chance to push the limits of the medium's visuals and stunts. The Final Reckoning has some of the best action scenes in the series, but it's also the most glaring example of how the film's unstoppable star can sometimes be a detriment to the stakes of the story. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning's sub scene is everything great (and frustrating) about this series.
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
- Release Date
- May 23, 2025
- Runtime
- 169 Minutes
Your comment has not been saved