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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Euronews Culture's Film of the Week: 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning'
Over the course of three decades, the Mission: Impossible franchise has given us some of the most consistently enjoyable cinematic thrills out there. Thanks in large part to Tom Cruise's devotion to sprinting and pushing the envelope when it comes to making impossible stunts possible, the series has managed to become a blockbuster singularity which has bucked the inevitable downslope trajectory most franchises succumb to. But it seems that even an anomaly as impressive as Mission: Impossible must face its reckoning. If 2023's Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One felt like the M:I franchise finally hitting its diminishing return phase, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is proof that the series has truly jumped the shark. We pick up where we left off in 2023. The parasitic AI known as The Entity is still at large and has infected global cyberspace. As we're repeatedly told: 'Whoever controls The Entity controls the truth.' Having failed to stop the gaping digital sphincter in Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team have 72 hours before it gains full control of the world's nuclear arsenal and wipes out humanity. Thankfully, Hunt has always been 'the best of men in the worst of times.' He is 'the chosen one' who can "deceive the Lord of Lies." Yes, these are direct quotes from this ludicrous new adventure, one whose scale and tone have more in common with the worst chapters of The Terminator and The Matrix films than it does with the franchise's espionage roots. Considering this supposed last instalment wraps up the storyline left hanging in the previous adventure, it's hardly surprising that the eighth M:I film shares its predecessor's bum notes – notably a jumbled script, laughably portentous dialogue, and one of the most forgettable villains (Esai Morales returning as Gabriel) in the franchise's run. Not content to simply ride out this already anticlimactic wave, The Final Reckoning adds a crushing sense of dourness hitherto absent from the series, as well as hefty exposition dumps that make the first hour of this 2h50 runtime an absolute slog to get through. And then there's the copious Ethan Hunt mythologising. Our hero is more end-of-times messiah than secret agent here, a grating development galvanized by endless po-faced talk of destiny. It's a shame that it should end this way, as the inherently promising AI antagonist had so much going for it. It taps into modern fears regarding the alarming proliferation of artificial intelligence and the correlation with the rise in disinformation. The execution may have been dumb in Dead Reckoning, but there was hope for some redemption – especially when Entity 'fanatics' are mentioned at the start of The Final Reckoning. The IMF team vs a cult devoted to a digital overlord? Sign us up. Sadly, The Final Reckoning doubles down and makes The Entity a doomsday soothsayer and a manipulator of stakes straight out of a Michael Bay movie. It's genuinely baffling how producer / star Tom Cruise and director / co-writer Christopher McQuarrie thought this would be a fitting swansong to the Hunt era. They proved beyond a doubt with Rogue Nation and series high note Fallout that they had finessed the winning formula; here, everything they built is thrown out the window in favour of a lunatic devotion to callbacks and self-congratulatory flashbacks. By harking back so frequently to past M:I instalments and cackhandedly retconing certain plot points (not quite to the same extent as 007's Spectre, but close enough), they create a clumsy Greatest Hits compilation that falls into the Marvel-shaped trap of attempting interconnectedness at any cost. Which begs the question: When will directors and studios realise that not everything has to be uselessly intertwined? Most of all, if you're going to rely on the relentlessly frustrating storytelling device of using clip montages, the current film better be as deliriously entertaining as the past adventures you're visually referring to. Otherwise, you're just reminding audiences of films they'd rather be watching instead. By the time this instalment's two major set-pieces arrive – a terrifically shot submarine sequence and our indefatigable superspy hanging off a biplane with the fate of the planet still in the balance – the sluggish pace has taken hold and no impressive showdown can make up for it. Worse, the finale lacks the courage to commit to a send-off befitting the film's title. Unlike The Final Reckoning, the James Bond franchise had the cojones to cap off the Daniel Craig tenure with a surprising twist. Love it or hate it, killing off 007 in No Time To Die was bold move. No such luck here, despite ample opportunity to end with an emotional splat / bang. It's with a heavy heart, especially considering the impressive run of tightly wound and thrilling adventures the M:I franchise has delivered, that this legacy-obsessed victory-lap feels like this series' Die Another Day. If the long-running franchise isn't dead yet, what's needed is a Casino Royale–shaped, ground-level spycraft reboot. For now though, Ethan Hunt is done running, punching, swimming, flying and cheating death at every turn. Should his retirement be permanent, it's a shame that the fuse fizzled out with The Final Reckoning, which ranks at the bottom of the eight-film run. Because for all the early-00's nonsense that characterised M:I-2, there was never a dull moment in John Woo's silly ballet of slo-mo doves soundtracked to Limp Bizkit. Tom Cruise deserved a stronger swansong. Instead, audiences get the first mission they should choose not to accept. is out in cinemas now. Check out the video above for more thoughts on this final instalment of the series.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Internal cause' suspected after North Korea hit by major internet outage
North Korea's internet was hit by a major outage that lasted several hours on Saturday, knocking off connection to government websites and online news services and severing the reclusive country from cyberspace. It was not clear what caused the outage, but it could have been internal rather than a cyberattack, as connections via China and Russia were affected, said researchers monitoring North Korea's internet and technology infrastructure. North Korea's main official news services, its foreign ministry, and the Air Koryo national airline were among websites inaccessible on Saturday, before they started coming back slowly around midday, according to checks by Reuters. North Korea's entire internet infrastructure was not showing up on systems that monitor internet activities and email services were also affected, Junade Ali, a UK-based researcher who monitors the North Korean internet, said earlier. 'Hard to say if this is intentional or accidental, but seems like this is internal rather than an attack.' Officials at South Korea's cyber terror response centre, a police division that monitors North Korea's cyber activities, could not be reached for comment. Martyn Williams, who specialises in North Korea's technology and infrastructure at the Washington-based Stimson Center, also said the cause appeared to be internal as the Chinese and Russian connections were not working. North Korea has one of the world's most strictly controlled internet systems, including access to any form of online communication. The general public has access only to an intranet set up by the government, and that is not connected to the wider global network. An elite few in the government and leadership are allowed open internet access, and government and news websites often serve up propaganda for outside audiences. North Korea has, in previous years, experienced large internet outages suspected as being caused by cyberattacks. The country operates elite teams of hackers, including a group known as Lazarus, run by the government intelligence apparatus, that are blamed for attacks against foreign institutions and companies and more recently for theft and the laundering of cryptocurrencies. North Korea denies involvement in hacking, crypto thefts and other cybercrime.
The Independent
07-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
‘Internal cause' suspected after North Korea hit by major internet outage
North Korea 's internet was hit by a major outage that lasted several hours on Saturday, knocking off connection to government websites and online news services and severing the reclusive country from cyberspace. It was not clear what caused the outage, but it could have been internal rather than a cyberattack, as connections via China and Russia were affected, said researchers monitoring North Korea's internet and technology infrastructure. North Korea's main official news services, its foreign ministry, and the Air Koryo national airline were among websites inaccessible on Saturday, before they started coming back slowly around midday according to checks by Reuters. North Korea's entire internet infrastructure was not showing up on systems that monitor internet activities and email services were also affected, Junade Ali, a UK-based researcher who monitors the North Korean internet, said earlier. "Hard to say if this is intentional or accidental - but seems like this is internal rather than an attack." Officials at South Korea's cyber terror response centre, a police division that monitors North Korea's cyber activities, could not be reached for comment. Martyn Williams, who specialises in North Korea's technology and infrastructure at the Washington-based Stimson Center, also said the cause appeared to be internal as the Chinese and Russian connections were not working. North Korea has one of the world's most strictly controlled internet systems, including access to any form of online communication. The general public has access only to an intranet set up by the government and that is not connected to the wider global network. An elite few in the government and leadership are allowed open internet access, and government and news websites often serve up propaganda for outside audiences. North Korea has in previous years experienced large internet outages suspected as being caused by cyberattacks. The country operates elite teams of hackers, including a group known as Lazarus run by the government intelligence apparatus, that are blamed for attacks against foreign institutions and companies and more recently for theft and the laundering of cryptocurrencies. North Korea denies involvement in hacking, crypto thefts and other cybercrime.
BBC News
02-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Defence review marks a significant turning point
Defence reviews come along quite regularly, mainly because governments struggle to fit their budgets to their ambitious UK tends to spend a bit on a lot of capabilities - at sea, in the air and on land, with an increasing effort in more than 30 years since the end of the Cold War, various governments have deployed the reduced defence spending dividend on other priorities, from tax cuts to the health this announcement marks a turning point. This spending review looks to be far more significant than any we have seen for a start, ambitions seem to be getting narrower, focussed on the 'Euro Atlantic' area. That is a change from the last review's tilt towards being a power player in waters around of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers is currently flying the flag in that arena, as tensions rise between China and Taiwan. But this review, led by Lord George Robertson, who has served as a Scottish Labour MP, defence secretary and secretary-general of the NATO alliance, is patching up some big gaps much closer to emphasis is on a shift to combat readiness, which means stepping up preparations for war with an estimate that a Russian attack on NATO could come in two or three emphasis is also on the industrial capacity that lies behind that fighting machine. Because of stop-start funding and buying in batches instead of funding private companies to continue production of weapons systems, Britain lacks the ability to sustain its front line operations. One of two big lessons to come out of the war in Ukraine is that prolonged battles along a front have not been consigned to 20th century has attacked and is willing to sustain vast costs, casualties and economic sanctions, turning over much of its manufacturing to the war effort and assuming that Ukraine and its allies will run out weapons or patience before the Kremlin other big lesson points in the opposite direction to old forms of warfare and to new forms of fighting - in particular the first year or so in the battle over Ukraine, new tactics emerged in which both sides deployed simple drones to devastating has not been enough to procure them - the next stage is the technological battle to jam them and to overcome that and Russia have reminded us that war drives innovation at a rapid in preparing for war, the UK's forces need to understand how to use and deter drones, but also how to change tactics and innovate of these lessons are getting a response from the UK Government. It needs to have an 'always-on' industrial capacity for backing up munitions and energetics - the propellants and explosives that go into them. Perhaps the most important response in the review in the Scottish context is the promise for more attack submarines, which will be nuclear-powered but conventionally armed, to replace the seven current Astute class subs "from the late 2030s".That's on top of the commitment to replace the four Trident missile armed Vanguard fleet with the new Dreadnaught class could bring more activity to the Clyde, where all the Royal Navy's subs are conventional long-range missiles bring a deterrent far short of nuclear attack and support 800 prime minister, defence secretary and Scotland secretary are all emphasising the impact this could have on jobs, the economy and growth, promising tens of thousands of jobs and the use of such missiles by an adversary raises questions about the UK's very limited anti-missile quality Ministry of Defence housing won't improve fighting capability directly but it helps with recruitment and retention of those in uniform, which is a significant problem in a tight labour Robertson's review can be expected to cover much more than the issues so far fed to us by the government, to get the headlines it are awkward issues around the amount of money that will be required to step up to battle plan is for 2.5% of annual national output soon, and 3% by 2034, but that's a long wait and is unlikely to meet expectations. There are also undiplomatic questions to be asked about the role of the USA as an America be relied upon to continue holding a nuclear defence umbrella over Europe? Without it, the UK and France - the other two Nato nuclear powers - would have to step up and fill that told that a lot of effort and spending is going into stepping up Britain's warhead-making capacity, at Aldermaston in is not yet clear if this is because the US can no longer be trusted to supply the may be that this is because there seem to be moves to deploy nuclear missiles on Royal Air Force aircraft, in addition to Royal Navy way, there are controversies there for the Labour government. Its own side includes strong opposition to nuclear weapons, notably in the Scottish SNP has been consistent in its opposition to nuclear weapons, and that has been repeated by John Swinney. The first minister would prefer to spend more on conventional weapons and see a relaxation of spending constraints at the treasury in order to avoid collateral damage to other public military threat is putting even more pressure on the chancellor to find ways of softening that hard ceiling on borrowing, and to do so in the looming spending review.
