‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ Didn’t Fix One of the Franchise’s Most Common Problems

The following contains spoilers for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.Although Mission: Impossible and its sequels are considered to be among the greatest action franchises of all-time, the series has consistently failed to come up with memorable villains. With the exception of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s terrifying performance in Mission: Impossible III, the antagonists that pop up generally feel secondary to the stunts, and never prove themselves to be a worthy match for Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). However, Esai Morales was able to add a surprising amount of gravity to his performance in Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, as he was a physically terrifying villain who also had a connection to Ethan’s past. Unfortunately, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning failed to deliver on Gabriel’s potential as a villain.

Gabriel Doesn’t Have Enough To Do in ‘Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning’

Gabriel’s introduction in Dead Reckoning was unique compared to the other villains in the franchise, as it is revealed that he was someone that Ethan had known before he joined the IMF. Although he does not explain what exactly he did to owe the IMF a debt, Ethan indicates that Gabriel killed someone whom he was close to, and that these traumatic memories have lasted with him ever since. Given how fearless Cruise often appears when pulling off the incredible stunts in the series, the fact that a villain was generally able to get under Ethan’s skin was an exciting possibility that raised the stakes for the final installment. Unfortunately, the dynamic black-and-white flashbacks scenes that were so memorable in Dead Reckoning are entirely absent in the final film; in fact, there is no additional information given about Ethan’s life before the IMF.

Gabriel isn’t given the time to express his philosophy, which is unique among the villains who have appeared in the series previously. Gabriel serves as a liaison for the artificial intelligence program known as “The Entity,” and seems not to be concerned about the potential of all life on Earth being enveloped by a global collapse. It is Gabriel’s disregard for those who work for him that ends up inspiring Paris (Pom Klementieff) to join forces with Ethan, but there are never any instances in which he has to reckon with what he has done. This is disappointing, considering that there are many scenes in The Final Reckoning dedicated to exploring the fallout of a global shutdown, but they are told from the perspective of the President (Angela Bassett). It would be more interesting to understand the psychology of someone whose beliefs are entirely opposite to the franchise’s protagonist; if Ethan is willing to risk anything and everything to ensure that innocent people are saved, Gabriel is willing to kill anyone who stands in his way.

Esai Morales Was Underserved by ‘Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning’

Gabriel is surprisingly absent for a majority of Mission: Impossible —The Final Reckoning, as most of the most memorable action scenes do not involve him. While he briefly appears at the beginning of the film to kill Luther (Ving Rhames), Ethan’s desire for vengeance doesn’t play into his motivations in the same way that it did in Dead Reckoning. Gabriel also feels strangely incompetent, as he puts Ethan and Grace (Hayley Atwell) in a trap that they easily escape from. Even if this was a necessary plot point to move the narrative forward, Gabriel appears to know Ethan better than most of the other villains and should have developed a more discerning strategy to hold him in captivity.

Morales is an excellent actor who wasn’t given the chance to give a nuanced performance, as Gabriel steadily turns into a broader villain. Although he was initially introduced as a cold, sadistic assassin whose only pleasure was inflicting pain on others, Gabriel turns into a more typical mustache-twirling bad guy by the end of the film. Even if the fight that he shares with Ethan in the biplane is quite intense, it does feel largely repetitive of the iconic helicopter action scene with Henry Cavill in Mission: Impossible — Fallout. While this is a franchise that has always belonged to Cruise, it is disappointing that its final entry didn’t capitalize on the intriguing villain that its predecessor had established.

Mission: Impossible —The Final Reckoning is in theaters now.