- 5/25/2025
Mission Impossible RECAP: All Movies before Final Reckoning
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00:00Welcome to the Man of Recaps. This is Mission Impossible. All movies recap before Final
00:05Reckoning. Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt, super secret agent of the IMF, which literally stands for
00:10Impossible Mission Force. They get their jobs in a secret message, your mission if you choose to
00:15accept it, and then at the end this message will self-destruct. The IMF's favorite tool are these
00:19hyper-realistic masks, which lets Ethan attend a fancy party to stop someone from stealing the
00:23knock list, which has all the identities of their secret agents. But wait, what's this? The mission's
00:27compromised, and Ethan's boss, Jim, is killed. Turns out this mission was a mole hunt from the
00:32start, and since Ethan is the one who survived, they think he's the traitor. And so a disavowed
00:36Ethan Hunt has to go rogue to clear his name. Ethan tracks down the arms dealer, Max, who hired the
00:41mole to steal the knock list, and Ethan knows it wasn't him. She makes him a deal. If Ethan steals
00:44her the real knock list, she'll tell him who the mole was and help him clear his name. So Ethan
00:48assembles a team of other disavowed agents, including his future best friend, Computer Master
00:52Luther, and also dead Jim's hot wife, who Ethan thought died in the mission, but she survived,
00:56and these two start to get frisky. The knock list is now held in CIA headquarters in this super
01:00secure room, where if anything even touches the floor, all the alarms go off. Luther's like
01:05Ethan, this mission is very difficult. Not just difficult, impossible. And so it's the iconic scene
01:11where Ethan's coming down on the wires. When a rat walks by, the guy holding him sneezes, and oh no,
01:16so close. Ethan successfully steals the list, but now dead Jim shows up. Good news, man, I survived.
01:22You didn't bang my wife, right? Uh, nope, nope. So the deal's going down on a speeding train where
01:27Ethan's giving the list to Max. But now Jim and his wife have a secret meeting where she talks
01:30explicitly about how they're the bad guys and are setting up Ethan to take the fall. But turns out
01:34that's not Jim. Yes, it's Ethan in a mask. The bad guys fall for it every time. But Jim got the list
01:40and he's going to escape on a helicopter. So Ethan's got to climb up there and attach the helicopter to
01:44the train, which is now going into a tunnel. So helicopter in the tunnel. Ethan leaps onto it and uses
01:49his explosive bubble gum to boom, blow up the helicopter. So the good guys get the list.
01:54Ethan clears his name and the day is saved. Until Mission Impossible 2, where Ethan is famously
01:59freestyle rock climbing and Tom Cruise has grown out a glorious mane of hair. Your mission, if you
02:04choose to accept it, save the world from the super disease Chimera. This message will self-destruct.
02:09Ethan recruits a hot jewel thief, Naya, and these two immediately fall in love. But the reason he
02:13needs her for this mission, she used to date the bad guy and he needs her to go back undercover to steal
02:17the disc with Chimera's location. The virus is held at the top of this building with all sorts of crazy
02:21security measures. Ethan, this mission is very difficult. Not just difficult, impossible. So Ethan
02:26jumps off a helicopter to rappel down through the roof. He starts to destroy the virus, but just then
02:31the bad guys show up. And it's an epic slow-mo shootout because the Matrix had just come out. In the
02:36chaos, Naya injects the virus into herself. So the bad guys run away with her and to escape, Ethan leaps
02:41off the building. Ethan sneaks into the bad guy's lair where he has a fight with the bad guy's best bro.
02:45But Ethan loses, and instead of monologuing, the bad guy shoots him immediately. But turns out
02:49that's not Ethan. Yes, it's a mask. Bad guys fall for it every time. Ethan's escaping with the virus,
02:54so he and the bad guy have a completely insane motorcycle joust. Long story short, Ethan wins
03:00and proves that he has incredible hair. So the day is saved. They destroy the virus, cure Naya,
03:05and these two live happily ever after. Until Mission Impossible 3, where Ethan is married to a
03:10completely different woman, Julia. He's back to short hair this movie, and his wife doesn't know he's a
03:14secret agent. He's trying to live a normal life. His cover story is he works at the DMV,
03:18which is sufficiently boring. Nobody asks any follow-up questions. But one day, a new job
03:21comes in. Your mission, if you choose to accept it. Rescue an agent who was undercover with the
03:25bad guy, Philip C. Moore Hoffman. This message will self-destruct. So Ethan busts in and rescues
03:29her, but on the way out, oh, I got a headache. Yes, he planted a bomb inside her brain, and oh,
03:34brain explosion. Now they need to capture the bad guy, and Ethan adds a new member to his core team,
03:38the funny computer guy, Benji. They bump the bad guy at a fancy party, where Ethan's ready to replace
03:42him. They sneak him out through the sewers, and the bad guy is captured. But he has a mole in the
03:45IMF, and the convoy is attacked. Philip C. Moore Hoffman set free. Now he's kidnapped Ethan's wife
03:50to force him to do a job for him. So once again, Ethan Hunt has to go rogue to save his wife. He
03:55wants him to steal a super weapon called the Rabbit's Foot, which is being held at the top of
03:58a building with all sorts of crazy security measures. Ethan, this mission is very difficult.
04:02Not just difficult, impossible. So Ethan jumps off another building to Tarzan swing across to the
04:08other. Long story short, it all works out, and Ethan gets the Rabbit's Foot. Ethan's going to trade it for
04:11his wife, but to make sure it's the real Rabbit's Foot, the bad guy shoots her. No! But turns out
04:16that wasn't Julia. Yes, it's a mask. They fall for it every time. Ethan escapes and goes to rescue his
04:22real wife, but now what's this? It's a bad headache. Hey, babe, sorry, I got a bomb in my brain. You
04:26gotta shock me to disarm it. She's like, you don't really work at the DMV, do you? And they live
04:30happily ever after. Until Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, where Ethan's wife was killed, but he's grown
04:36out glorious long hair again. Ethan gets back to work. Your mission, if you choose to accept it. A bad guy named
04:40Cobalt has stolen some nuclear launch codes, you need to break into the Kremlin to discover his
04:44identity. This message will self-destruct. So Ethan sneaks into the Kremlin, but Cobalt's also
04:48breaking in right now, steals the nuclear briefcase. Then he tells everyone that Ethan is here before
04:52blowing up the Kremlin. Since it looks like Ethan blew up the Kremlin, the president invokes ghost
04:57protocol, where the entire IMF is disavowed and shut down. So once again, Ethan Hunt has to go rogue
05:02to save the world and clear his name. Ethan assembles his loyal team, including new one-off partner,
05:07Hawkeye. Cobalt is trying to buy launch codes from a seller in Dubai to
05:10hack the building. Benji needs access to the server room. So Ethan's Spider-Man climbs up
05:14the windows, but his gloves break for the climb down. So Ethan has an excuse to jump off another
05:18building. They're going to use masks to impersonate Cobalt, but the mask machine breaks. So Ethan
05:22rolls up maskless and just hopes the seller doesn't know what he looks like. It's all going well until
05:26she sees Hawkeye's super spy contact lens and it turns into a big fight. The real Cobalt is escaping.
05:30So Ethan's running after him. Yeah, Tom Cruise, get those steps in. Just then a sandstorm blows in. So
05:36they have a zero visibility car chase where boom ends in an epic crash, but Cobalt gets away
05:40unscathed. To stop Cobalt from launching a nuke, they need to break into another building with all
05:44sorts of crazy security measures. This time it's Hawkeye who leaps on down, not with ropes, but with
05:48magnets. But they're too late. The bad guy launches a missile hoping to start a nuclear war. Ethan can
05:52disarm it if he gets the briefcase. So they have a fight in a car vending machine where Ethan's got to
05:56drive the car down to the bottom and hits disarm just in time. Luther wasn't really in this movie, but he makes a
06:01cameo at the end to say, Ethan, that mission was very difficult. This guy's not getting it, is he?
06:06Anyway, the day is saved until Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, where Tom Cruise has decided to rock
06:12the long hair two movies in a row. Ethan is up to his usual stuff. This is the one where he hangs on
06:16to a plane. Your next mission, if you choose to accept it, is to hunt down the criminal organization,
06:20The Syndicate, led by the bad guy Solomon Lane. But this was a trap for Ethan set by The Syndicate,
06:25and the message self-destructs with knockout gas. They're going to torture him for information,
06:28but the girl on their team gives him the sign that she's undercover. This woman is Ilsa,
06:32British intelligence, who secretly helps Ethan escape, but is going to stay behind to keep her
06:35cover. Ethan tries to warn the IMF, but Alec Baldwin is the new director of the CIA. He's like,
06:39look, Ethan Hunt goes rogue every single movie. I'm starting to think he's actually a bad guy,
06:43which ironically now forces Ethan to go rogue to clear his name. So Ethan reassembles his team,
06:48including tracking down Ilsa. She knows about a file that can take down The Syndicate. Only problem is
06:52stealing it will be impossible. Oh, hey, this chick gets it. The building has a gate analysis machine,
06:58which I guess is impossible to fake. So Ethan has to jump into the underwater server room,
07:02no scuba tank, to put Benji's credentials in the system. So Benji got the disc, but oh,
07:07Ilsa betrays them. It turns into a crazy motorcycle chase that ends with a huge crash.
07:12But Ilsa's not a bad guy. It was just her job to recover the disc for the British government.
07:15Alec Baldwin meets with the British Prime Minister who explains The Syndicate was originally a British
07:18operation that went rogue. So Ethan Hunt had nothing to do with it? No, I don't even know who that is.
07:22Good, because I'm Ethan Hunt in a mask. They fall for it every time. Turns out what's on the disc
07:27is the funding that was set aside for The Syndicate. They want to lure Solomon Lane into a trap,
07:31but he's one step ahead, strapped a bomb to Benji. But Ethan was one step ahead. He already
07:34destroyed the disc and memorized all the account numbers, so you need me alive. It turns into a
07:38big chase. Tom Cruise getting those steps in. Lane follows him into the sewers, but oh, it was a
07:42trap. I'm in a glass cage of emotion. So the IMF is reinstated. Ethan's name is cleared,
07:47and he and Ilsa begin a long-distance spy relationship. Until Mission Impossible Fallout. This movie,
07:53he's back to short hair, Cruise. And your new mission, if you choose to accept it,
07:55Solomon Lane's followers call themselves the Apostles, and they're led by the bad guy,
07:58John Lark, who stole some plutonium and is trying to blow up the world. This message will self-destruct.
08:02Ethan intercepts the plutonium deal, but the Apostles were one step ahead, capture Luther.
08:06So to save Luther's life, Ethan lets the plutonium go. So the bad guys win nuclear
08:10devastation across the globe. Since they already won, the bad guy they captured unlocks his phone,
08:14but oh, the whole thing was a fake out, much bigger than a mask. Now they know that John Lark was
08:19going to buy the plutonium from an arms dealer called the White Widow, who turns out is the
08:23daughter of the arms dealer Max from Mission Impossible 1. Ethan assembles his team, including
08:27a new one-off superhero sidekick, Superman. Yeah, this is the one where Henry Cavill rocked a mustache.
08:32The deal's going down at a fancy French rave, where they tag John Lark's wristband and follow him
08:35into the bathroom. But oh, this guy is a Kung Fu master, beats them both up. And it is the iconic
08:39scene where Henry Cavill reloads his fists. John Lark is still winning the fight, but they're saved by
08:44Ilsa. Unfortunately, she shot him in the face, so they can't make a mask. So once again,
08:48Ethan rolls up maskless and hopes the White Widow doesn't know what he looks like. But turns out,
08:51John Lark wasn't paying with cash. He was paying with a favor, breaking out the apostles' leader,
08:56Solomon Lane. To keep his cover, Ethan would have to kill a bunch of cops. So he changes the plan
09:00last minute and rams Lane's truck into the water. Oh, filling up quickly. But his team,
09:05Benji and Luther, are there to grab Lane and get to safety. But now Alec Baldwin is here to shut this
09:08mission down because he suspects that Ethan is the real John Lark. So Ethan Hunt, who has gone rogue to
09:14clear his name six movies in a row, goes rogue to clear his name. He's going to finish the deal to get the
09:19plutonium, leaves Henry Cavill here to guard Lane. But immediately, he sets Lane free. Yes,
09:23Henry Cavill was the real John Lark, which he confesses to pretty explicitly. And turns out,
09:28that's not the real Lane. Yes, it's a mask. Bad guys fall for it every time. But Lark has a backup
09:33plan, brings in his goons for a big shootout, where he kills Alec Baldwin. Lark escapes, and Ethan tries
09:38to run him down. Yeah, Tom Cruise getting those steps in. And of course, at the end, he leaps off
09:42another building. In the end, Lark and Lane escape, but the team tracks them to Central Asia. They're going to set
09:46off the nuke, not in a populated area, but in the freshwater source, contaminating it for the whole
09:50world. They planted the bomb at a medical camp, which seems strange, until Ethan finds his dead
09:55wife, Julia. Yes, they faked her death so she could go live a normal life, where she joined Doctors
09:59Without Borders. So they find one nuclear bomb, but there's a second bomb that needs to be disarmed at
10:03the exact same time. And they can't disarm them until Ethan pulls the pin on the detonator, which Henry
10:07Cavill already flew off with. Ethan, this mission is straight up impossible. Not impossible, just pretty
10:12difficult. So Ethan Hunt leaps on to the second helicopter, rides it on up, and hijacks it. And
10:17it's an insane helicopter chase through the mountains. Eventually, Ethan rams him, and they
10:22both crash. Luckily, Ethan's got those free climbing skills he learned in Mission Impossible 2. So in the
10:27end, Lark is killed, and they disarm the bombs just in time. So Ethan's name is cleared. He and Ilsa keep
10:32living happily ever after, and the world is saved. Until Mission Impossible dead reckoning. An artificial
10:38intelligence has gone rogue. They're calling it the Entity, and it's trying to take over the world.
10:42Your mission, if you choose to accept it, find both halves of the key that would let them shut
10:45it down. This message will self-destruct. But turns out the government doesn't want to shut
10:49the Entity down. They want to control it and use it to take over the world themselves. Luckily,
10:52Ethan snuck into this meeting, so he has a talk with his boss, Kittredge. No one should have that
10:56much power. I'm gonna destroy it. So once again, Ethan Hunt is going rogue. And I'm starting to think,
11:00if he goes rogue every movie, does he actually even work here? Ethan tracks down a seller to steal
11:05one half of the key, but someone else stole it first. It's the master thief, Grace. He catches up to her
11:09in Italy. Come on, we gotta work together. Yeah, there's a bunch of bad guys here that are gonna
11:12kill her to get the key. They make it to Ethan's getaway car, which is not his usual style. And
11:16it's a hilarious tiny car car chase. But in the end, Grace slips away again. Ethan meets up with
11:21his team, Benji, Luther, and his kind of girlfriend, Ilsa. They attend a fancy party where Grace is going
11:25to sell the key to our favorite arms dealer, the White Widow. But she's just the broker. The buyer who
11:29wants the key is Gabriel, a real bad guy who apparently is Ethan's archenemy from his past. And turns
11:35out he's working for the entity itself, whose true form is a Windows media player visualizer.
11:41Grace tries to run away, and Ethan tries to chase her down. Yeah, Tom Cruise getting those steps in.
11:45He's getting directions from Benji, but the entity hacks their system, mimics Benji's voice, and leads
11:49him into a trap. Meanwhile, Gabriel is gonna take the key from Grace, but Ilsa's here to stop him,
11:54and they have a sword fight on the Venice Bridge. You know, as you do. But in the end, oh, she's stabbed,
11:58and Ethan gets there just too late. His girlfriend, Ilsa, dies. After this, Grace is done running away.
12:03She's ready to help for real. They give her a mask to impersonate the White Widow who's selling the
12:07other half of the key on a moving train that Ethan has to jump onto, then parachute off of.
12:10Ethan, this mission is very difficult. Actually, that doesn't sound too hard. That's pretty standard
12:14stuff for me. Problem is, Gabriel's on the train, and he puts it on full speed, so it doesn't slow
12:18down for Ethan to jump on. Benji leads him to the next best spot, but it's way up on a mountain.
12:23Okay, yeah, now we're talking impossible. But Tom Cruise is ready for his biggest stunt yet.
12:27Forget jumping off a building. He motorcycles off a mountain. Boom! Pulls the parachute,
12:32and busts into the train just in time. In the chaos, Gabriel got the key, so they go up top
12:37for a classic moving train roof fight. But Ethan can't kill him, because now he's the only one who
12:41knows where the entity is, and that's his only chance of shutting it down. And the entity predicted
12:44all of this, because right now he's got his getaway truck. But the entity didn't predict that
12:48Ethan stole the key back. But Gabriel planted bombs ahead, ready to blow the bridge. Ethan and Grace
12:53disconnect the locomotive, so the rest of the train is slowing to a stop. But it's not slowing fast enough.
12:57One by one, the cars are falling. And Ethan and Grace have an insane train car climbing situation.
13:03I'll jump in just in time. At the end, they're saved by Paris, Gabriel's former henchman. And
13:07she was in the meeting, tells Ethan where the entity is, a sunken submarine on the bottom of the ocean.
13:12And so the world is not saved. This impossible mission will continue in Mission Impossible,
13:17Final Reckoning.
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