Simon Pegg has one message about Tom Cruise’s latest stunts in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning: “Really, really dumb s***.” And that’s high praise.
Speaking at AwesomeCon, Pegg teased just how wild the eighth film in the long-running franchise gets, calling it his “favourite to shoot” out of all six Mission films he’s appeared in. “We were in the Arctic; we were in South Africa. The stunts Tom is doing just beggar belief.”
Cruise, now 62, has become synonymous with jaw-dropping, death-defying stunts, and this installment is no exception. The trailer already shows him dangling from the side of a plane mid-flight. But according to Pegg, that’s just the beginning.
“A lot of people say, ‘Is he mad?’ But he’s not,” Pegg clarified. “He’s incredibly focused and careful. He trains, he rehearses. He does this because he genuinely cares about giving audiences the ultimate cinematic experience. He literally risks his life for it.”
Cruise returns as IMF super-agent Ethan Hunt, this time taking on an all-powerful AI known as The Entity. The Final Reckoning picks up after 2023’s Dead Reckoning and sees Ethan and his team racing against time to prevent global catastrophe. The film also stars Vanessa Kirby, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Pom Klementieff, Hannah Waddingham, and Esai Morales.
Director Christopher McQuarrie, who has helmed several entries in the series, has reportedly crafted an emotional arc that ties together all eight films. Pegg noted, “If you’ve seen every Mission: Impossible film, and if you haven’t, I strongly recommend you do, there will be things in Final Reckoning that you’ll notice. There’s connective tissue that just joins it all together really beautifully.”
Beyond the spectacle, Pegg emphasized that the franchise’s longevity is due to its character depth. “One thing McQ and Tom Cruise focus on more than anything else, more than the big set pieces, is character,” Simon Pegg told Collider. “The characters aren’t interchangeable. That’s why they work so well as a team. Each agent has their own skill set.”
As for Benji Dunn, Pegg’s loyal technician character? “Benji’s not hanging off airplanes. If Ethan Hunt wasn’t there, the mission would just be called Mission: Furious Typing.”
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning hits theaters next month. Buckle up, this one’s going to be a ride.
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