Why is Mission Impossible: Karma rated lower than the previous 4 parts?

While Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is a tribute to the entire series, it has a significantly lower Rotten Tomatoes score than its predecessors. That doesn't mean the latest Mission: Impossible installment isn't any good.

In fact, the reviews for Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning have been pretty positive, with Screen Rant's Mary Kassel giving it an 8 out of 10. The film currently has a 80% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes (via Rotten Tomatoes), which is a very respectable number.

It's worth noting, however, that The Final Reckoning has a lower score than many other Mission: Impossible films. For comparison, 2011's Ghost Protocol and 2015's Rogue Nation both have 94%, 2018's Fallout has 98%, and 2023's Dead Reckoning, the film that sets up The Final Reckoning, has 96% (via Rotten Tomatoes). Here's why Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning's Rotten Tomatoes score is so low .

The first half of Mission: Impossible 8 is not interesting.

Mission: Impossible: Final Karma's 2 hour and 50 minute runtime makes it the longest film in the series. For this reason, it is not ideal that the first half of the film is significantly slower than the second half. In reviews of the film, some critics expressed their disappointment that the first half of the film is not engaging enough. As David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter noted, " we have to wait about halfway through the nearly three-hour film to get to the many exciting action sequences and fantastic locations that are the lifeblood of this series ."

There's no denying that the second half of the film is fantastic. This is largely due to the submarine and biplane sequences, two of the standout stunts in Mission: Impossible 8. However, while the film ends on a high note, it's worth noting that Ethan Hunt's latest mission takes a long time to gain momentum. So while Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is a great film, some critics have noted that they struggled to watch the first half of the action blockbuster.

Mission: Impossible 8 has too much explanation and boring dialogue

Since Mission: Impossible: Final Reckoning continues the story of its predecessor, it needs to rely heavily on exposition in certain scenes, which is something that many critics found problematic. In their review of the film, The Hollywood Reporter also stated that the installment " spends a disproportionate amount of time wading through recaps, exposition dumps, and mind-numbing internet jargon ." The heavy dose of exposition and boring dialogue is another reason why the first half of The Final Reckoning feels much slower than the second half.

The Final Reckoning is actually the first installment in the Mission: Impossible series to continue the story of a previous film. In addition to continuing the story of Dead Reckoning, The Final Reckoning also connects to older entries in the series, namely the first and third films. For that reason, Part 8 also includes a lot of flashbacks to previous films to remind viewers of important events. By combining flashbacks and a lot of exposition, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning "holds the audience's hand" too much, making the experience less enjoyable.

Mission: Impossible 8 is not as fun as the previous movies

Because the first half of the film is so slow and includes so many flashbacks and expositions, Mission: Impossible: Karma ultimately just isn't as fun as its predecessors. As IndieWire's David Ehrlich points out in his review, " this change of pace seems intentional ." After all, the latest Mission: Impossible film is trying to show the dire situation humanity is in when people live in a world that's essentially run by the Entity.

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning certainly depicts a more dystopian world than any other film in the series, but unfortunately, it loses all of its charm in doing so. It's not necessarily a secret that Mission: Impossible fans care more about the stunts and crazy action sequences than the actual missions, but it's clear that Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie didn't realize that in The Final Reckoning. By trying to focus too much on the story, some critics have argued that The Final Reckoning is the least interesting entry in the entire spy series.

Gabriel is not an effective villain in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

It's worth noting that Gabriel is an unimpressive villain, which was also a problem that many people pointed out after the release of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning. According to IndieWire's review, this was forgiven in Dead Reckoning because most people assumed that his past with Ethan would be explored more in The Final Reckoning. However, the latest Mission: Impossible film makes no effort to clarify this relationship. As a result, according to Ehrlich, " Gabriel's one-dimensional villainy " can no longer be excused and is one of the reasons why The Final Reckoning is the worst installment.

Obviously, the Entity is technically the main antagonist in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. However, Gabriel is the one who constantly ruins Ethan and his crew's plans, so he needs to be a formidable character as well. Unfortunately, many critics have noted that the character is too silly to be considered a significant threat to Ethan. Justin Chang of The New Yorker even described Gabriel as " incredibly boring ."

Most of the supporting characters in Mission: Impossible 8 aren't interesting enough.

Aside from Gabriel, critics also found many of the other supporting characters in Mission: Impossible 8 uninteresting. They're almost as important as Ethan Hunt, so this is a big problem. Many critics pointed out that The Final Reckoning spends too much time on characters we don't really care about, like Angela Bassett's President Sloane and a group of high-ranking US government officials.

Outside of this group of characters, however, the main cast barely act like themselves in The Final Reckoning. Luther is moody instead of sly, Benji is shrill instead of confused, and Grace is a super thief instead of just a skilled pickpocket. So, aside from Cruise's Ethan Hunt, it could be argued that none of the characters act like themselves in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, which is a shame since this is likely the last installment in the series.

Samuel Daniel

Update 30 May 2025