Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025)

29 years after he started the M:I franchise, Tom Cruise returns one last time to end it. And it couldn't come any sooner, as he's traded in his boyish good looks for someone closer resembling Buddy Hackett. Still, at 62, he's performing insane stunts and doing things that I could never do at any age, so you can't really knock it. Maybe there's something to that Scientology shit, after all.

Picking up shortly after the events of Dead Reckoning, The Entity is still an active threat (if somewhat an abstract construct) while the world is again at the precipice of succumbing to global devastation. It's exposition-heavy at times, and heavy-handed at others, but I mostly find it fascinating due to its finality. The improbable part is that they managed to tie up so many loose story strands from throughout the series in a satisfying way while weaving together all of the films. (Meanwhile, my impossible mission was trying not to piss myself for three hours.) It's a welcome return to form that succeeds in ending the series on a high note. Tom's mission, should he choose to accept it, is not to fuck it up by making another one.

3½ MacGuffins out of 5

Note: Huge shout-out goes to Ving Rhames, who has appeared in every single one of these films alongside Cruise, but never quite seems to get his due.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning (2023)

This entire series is the very definition of ephemeral entertainment. It's fun and exciting in the moment, but it just doesn't stay with you after it's over. At the best of times, it's a mindless popcorn flick; at the worst of times, it's smug and insufferable. How much longer can we keep pretending nothing is going to happen to this Gary Stu character? How many times can they make the impossible possible? These movies are filled with such clichés that only exist to feed Cruise's massive ego as a billionaire movie star adrenaline junkie.

This time, Tommy Boy goes up against the very concept of AI itself; a rogue system known as The Entity that spells the end of all mankind (if we're lucky). The biggest misstep of this installment is that it's long and occasionally boring. There are three memorable set pieces featured, and these are what make the movie worthwhile, especially the "big stunt" in the final hour of the picture. 

Fact: Every M:I movie is longer than the one that came before. Now we're up to 2 hours and 45 minutes to tell an incomplete story without an ending, as this was merely devised as "Part One"—to be concluded in The Final Reckoning.

2½ half-keys out of 5

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

Returning from a lengthy absence (we won't talk about that), James Gunn completes his trilogy with flying colors that places the heart and soul back into Marvel's Cinematic Universe. Focusing on Rocket Raccoon's backstory, we are introduced to the High Evolutionary and Adam Warlock, as well as cuddly companions from Rocket's past. 

Like Deadpool, Guardians remains my favorite Marvel property due to its irreverent humor and winning heart (especially the chemistry between Drax and Mantis, who I will miss most of all), which set it apart from many of the superhero franchises which try so hard to be "cool" all the time. It's refreshing when all the characters feel flawed and sorta human (even the alien ones).

What I like most about this series is how it is (almost) separate from the MCU machine (the Guardians also feature in Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame and Thor: Love and Thunder, so it's not entirely self-contained), so you can watch Vol 1-3 as a trilogy of its own design (but don't forget the Holiday Special!). 

Most other things I have to say about this movie rely heavily on spoilers, but all I'll say is that while I was mostly satisfied with how it all ended, it left me with bittersweet feelings which prevent me from giving it a higher score.

3½ confusing car door designs out of 5

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)

Peter Quill is feeling blue around the holidays, so Drax and Mantis decide to cheer him up by kidnapping Kevin Bacon from Earth. This movie is so much fun and embraces all of what makes Guardians of the Galaxy special and stand out from the rest of the stale, well-treaded superhero fare. It has a simple joyous quality about it, and Drax and Mantis remain my two favorite lovable weirdos at the heart of this franchise. It wedges nicely between Guardians 2 and 3 and provides a nice reprieve from the cynical Marvel machine which only serves to set-up future tentpoles. This is one that can easily be enjoyed without much foreknowledge of the MCU. I also like that they had fun building off the Star Wars Holiday Special, which this clearly pokes fun at with its animated Yondu flashback sequence. Enormously maudlin but oh-so-charming, it celebrates the humor and the characters at the heart of it. At a tightly-paced 40 minutes, it's the perfect length for this type of throwback Christmas special, which makes it easy to revisit year after year.

4½ swirly red-and-white curly men out of 5

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 [2017]

Director James Gunn returns to the MCU for more immensely entertaining nuttiness in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Continuing their galactic misadventures, the Guardians are on the run from a race of powerful aliens  of whom they stole from when they run into Peter Quill's long-lost father with a tempting proposition.
After the surprise of how good the first film actually was, this installment has a lot to live up to and it almost hits the mark.  Gunn has a lot to juggle and it's almost always successful with a few minor quibbles here and there.  It's jam-packed with plenty of humor, extravagant set-pieces, memorable characters you learn to love even more and plenty of emotion to form some serious lumps in your throat.  If you're a fan of the first then this one will deliver the goods with oddball personality and genuine heart.

3½ trash pandas out of 5