Impossible, it's being offered the chance to perform their own stunts. For Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Tom Cruise went above and beyond his own exceedingly high standards to deliver some nail-biting aerial and underwater sequences for his long-time role as IMF agent Ethan Hunt.

Impossible character Ethan Hunt gamely takes on the burden, ad nauseam, of saving the world, Cruise genuinely thinks he can save cinema. His optimism is touching, if unrealistic. But as hard as he, and we,

“Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning,” a Paramount Pictures release in theaters Friday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for “bloody images, action, brief language, and sequences of strong violence.” Running time: 179 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.