“Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning” is a compelling action-adventure thriller that grips you from the getgo and propels your adrenaline for almost three hours.

To recap: “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning” (2023) concluded with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his rogue, London-based Impossible Missions Force (IMF)  (Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Greg Tarzan Davis) trying to stop an artificial intelligence Entity that’s conquered cyberspace and is ready to obliterate Earth with nuclear domination.

Since then, Ethan’s been off-the-grid until his former CIA boss – now President of the United States Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett) – summons him back because he’s in possession of the “cruciform key” which unlocks the Entity’s source code that’s hidden in a device called the Podkova, which went missing when the Russian submarine Sevastapol sank 500 feet under the Arctic ice in the Bering Sea.

Doing his best to stop Hunt is treacherous terrorist Gabriel (Esai Morales) – and in order to accomplish his covert mission, Ethan must cope with doubtful government/military officials (Henry Czerny, Janet McTeer, Tramell Tillman, Hannah Waddingham, Shea Whigham, Nick Offerman).

Regarding daredevil Tom Cruise’s death-defying stunts….In addition to numerous pulse-pounding foot sprints and car pursuits, there’s an extended underwater sequence and an eye-popping South Africa-set aerial chase that involves Ethan doing aerobatics, jumping from one vintage biplane to another – flying at 10,000 feet. 

Sketchily scripted by director Christopher McQuarrie and co-writer Erik Jendresen, its crazy, overly convoluted plot, punctuated with dour expository dialogue, combines high-tech espionage with stunning stunts, peppered with existential nostalgic flashbacks, beginning with Bruce Geller’s TV series that introduced Lalo Schifrin’s memorable musical theme.

One of the pivotal characters, CIA analyst William Donloe (Rolf Saxon), first appeared in Brian De Palma’s franchise-launching 1996 ”Mission Impossible;” now – in this callback – exiled Donloe lives with his Inuk wife Tapesa (Lucy Tulugarjuk) on icy St. Matthew Island.

Kudos to cinematographer Fraser Taggart and – most of all – indefatigable Tom Cruise. Although rumors are rampant that this – the eighth “Mission Impossible” – is his last: Never say never.

Full Disclosure: My son – Don Granger – is one of the producers.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning” is an enthralling, exciting, escapist 8 – playing in theaters.

Judging by its outlandish subject matter, I expected writer/director Alex Scharfman’s “Death of a Unicorn” to be – at the very least – an intriguing fantasy/satire. Instead it’s astoundingly awful!

As widower Elliot (Paul Rudd), a mild-mannered corporate compliance lawyer, and his angsty Gen-Z daughter Ridley (Jenny Ortega) are driving through a remote Canadian wilderness preserve to visit the estate of his billionaire boss, they accidentally hit a young unicorn.

Rushing to its side, traumatized Ridley touches its glowing horn, establishing a spiritual connection that momentarily transports her mind into a psychedelic kaleidoscope – and, incidentally, also clearing up her acne – while terrified Elliot wields a tire iron to beat the suffering creature out of its obvious misery.

Unsure of what to do with the carcass, they toss it in the trunk of their rental SUV, only to subsequently realize – to their horror – that it’s far from dead.

Nervous Elliot works for critically-ill Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant), head of a ruthlessly powerful pharmaceutical family (perhaps inspired by Big Pharma’s notorious Sacklers) who live in a castle-like fortress, protected by armed guards.

When Odell’s delusional wife Belinda (Tea Leoni) and drug-addicted son Shepard (Will Poulter) realize the radiant unicorn horn’s regenerative properties, they’re determined to exploit and monetize the mythical beast, aided by their staff (Jessica Hynes, Anthony Carrigan) and researchers (Sunita Mani, Stephen Park).

Meanwhile, horrified Ridley recalls an art history visit with her late mother to the Cloisters annex of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they viewed a series of unicorn tapestries; in medieval times, the majestic unicorn was associated with the resurrection of Christ.

The overly complicated conflict then descends into predictably tedious mayhem with R-rated graphic gore revolving around monstrous CGI creatures whose shaggy heads resemble donkeys more than horses.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Death of a Unicorn” is an absurdist 2, streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.

Catch up with Susan Granger’s latest reviews here:

• “The Studio” and “The Four Seasons”
• “Real Women Have Curves” and “Rust”
• “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” and “Good American Family”
• “Just in Time” and “Nightbitch”

Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in Journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has appeared on radio and television as an anchorwoman and movie critic for many years. Read all her reviews at susangranger.com.