As supposedly the closing chapter in Tom Cruise’s beloved action franchise, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning attempts to tie every loose thread of previous installments. That means solving mysteries such as the true nature of Mission: Impossible 3 Rabbit’s Foot and giving fan-favorite characters such as Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) a proper farewell.

Christopher McQuarrie directed and wrote four consecutive films in the franchise, including this weekend’s “Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning.”

The best of the more minor action sequences in The Final Reckoning involves Grace and William Donloe’s wife exchanging fire with Russian special forces as they try to get the coordinates for the Seva...