Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning director Christopher McQuarrie has explained why the movie’s tragic death was so vital for Ethan Hunt’s final impossible mission. As Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is slated to be the last Tom Cruise-led Mission: Impossible movie (though anything is possible in this era of remakes, reboots, and sequels), the story had to pack a punch; not just action-wise but emotionally, too.
While many speculated that this meant Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt was destined to die while trying to contain the terrifyingly malevolent AI known as the Enтιтy, viewers were forced to watch one of Ethan’s most trusted friends, Luther (Ving Rhames), sacrifice himself instead, as he defused a bomb to save a vast underground tunnel system and the city above it.
Rhames’ Luther has been a franchise mainstay since the original 1996 Mission: Impossible movie, making his death and the effect it has on Ethan all the more poignant. In a spoiler-filled interview with Empire, McQuarrie explained why Luther’s death was so important to the story and how it embraces The Final Reckoning‘s biggest themes:
RIP, Ethan’s oldest ally. Ving Rhames’ Luther is the only other character to appear in every single Mission – but The Final Reckoning proves to be his last. It’s a big loss – to the audience, and to Ethan – but one that needed to happen. “The story was about sacrifice,” points out McQ. “The sacrifice in [ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning], the movie had no teeth without it, without some loss.” Rhames himself was game. “It was a sacrifice Ving leaned fully into,” the director says. “It was one he wanted to do, and one he was most moved by.” It’s the payoff to a decision McQuarrie made several Mission movies ago. “Ving is such a phenomenal actor, such a giving actor, and the franchise wasn’t giving him those opportunities,” he says. “I said, ‘We’ve got to get him out of the van and give him the more emotional stuff to play’. And he leaned into it. This was already forming in Fallout.” Gone, but not forgotten.
What Luther’s Death Meant For Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Someone Needed To Die In Mission: Impossible’s Last Movie
While Ethan Hunt’s biggest in-universe weakness is his love for his friends, it also makes him a stronger character. Action heroes often run the risk of feeling two-dimensional and emotionally closed off, but Ethan’s loyalty – and the losses he’s forced to endure because of that loyalty – make him more sympathetic and easier to relate to, despite his extremely unrelatable death-defying stunts and globe-trotting adventures.
His relationship with Luther, especially, is one of the franchise’s most vital and effective emotional through lines. Luther arguably knows Ethan better than anyone, and he’s one of the few people, alongside Benji (Simon Pegg), with whom Ethan can be fully himself. Who better to showcase how high-stakes Ethan’s final mission is than his closest friend?
Nothing’s ever quite tested Ethan Hunt’s mental forтιтude like having to run away from Luther to save himself, and, by extension, the world.
Though previous character deaths, especially Ilsa Faust’s (Rebecca Ferguson) in Mission: Impossible – ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning, have tested Ethan’s strength, nothing’s ever quite tested his mental forтιтude like having to run away from Luther to save himself and, by extension, the world, knowing his friend was meeting his inevitable end much too soon.
This not only gave Ethan even more of a reason to want to defeat the Enтιтy, but it also made Gabriel (Esai Morales) a more devious, hands-on villain.
Our Take On Luther’s Death In Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Nobody Was Truly Safe In The Final Reckoning
The biggest thing that Luther’s death did for The Final Reckoning, however, was that it made the audience feel as though nobody was safe. As the final act begins and Ethan and his team head to South Africa, there’s a sense that this could be the end for every single character, both new and old. It makes the action all the more intense.
Benji’s major injury, which he crucially hides from Ethan, makes the film’s conclusion even more nail-biting. When he pᴀsses out while instructing Hayley Atwell’s Grace on how to prepare the Enтιтy’s digital prison, the audience is on the edge of their seats. When Ethan chases Gabriel’s biplane high above the South African countryside, there’s a sense that he could be next, as well.
Every second, every move, counts. Could The Final Reckoning have upped the death toll even more? Of course, but that would have taken away from the momentousness of Luther’s sacrifice.
Instead, The Final Reckoning celebrated and honored one of the franchise’s best original characters, a brilliant move in a movie meant to celebrate and honor the legacy of one of Hollywood’s most enduring action franchises. Luther’s sacrifice made Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning a stronger film, and that’s exactly what a character’s death should do.
Source: Empire
