Warning: SPOILERS for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One are in play. If you’re not up to speed on this latest mission, you’ve been warned.
“The Net Ranger.” “Phineas Phreak.” Those aren’t nicknames you can earn easily, and as any Mission: Impossible fan knows, they both belong to someone who earned them with distinction: expert hacker Luther Stickell. Played by Ving Rhames with only the maximum levels of cool, this IMF agent is the only other player besides Tom Cruise to be present for the entire franchise. And yet, after seven movies, and with an eighth on the way, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One finally gave Luther a proper ‘big moment’ in the franchise.
I couldn’t be happier about this development, as being a fan of these movies since day one has come with a healthy appreciation for Mr. Rhames’ return in each installment. If Ethan Hunt is the American James Bond, then Luther Stickell is undoubtedly his Q. Which makes the huge turning point in co-writer/director Christopher McQuarrie’s story for Dead Reckoning - Part One all the more exciting, as it’s come from someone who’s known Ethan the longest.
Consider this point the last chance to bail out before spoilers, as I’ll be continuing on a dead reckoning of my own. From here on out, it’s time to talk about why Ving Rhames’ big Mission: Impossible 7 scene was so perfect, and why it was overdue.
Luther Stickell’s Big Mission: Impossible 7 Moment
After the shocking death of Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), the IMF crew that remains regroups to figure out their next move. With Gabriel (Esai Morales) still in the open, and doing the bidding of the rogue sentient AI known as “The Entity,” the objective at the heart of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One needs to be reexamined.
Enter Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), who not only comforts newbie Grace (Hayley Atwell) in the wake of surviving her own brush with death, but also helps center his best friend in the world. Asking Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) what his “true objective” is, he reminds his IMF brother that killing The Entity is the mission.
With that objective firmly in place, Stickell gives Hunt the most crucial piece of advice to beat their algorithmic foe: Gabriel has to survive. With The Entity seemingly banking on outcomes that only result in one party dying, if Ethan spares Gabriel’s life, it would be a potential checkmate to this massive existential threat.
The Mission Against The Entity Is Square In Luther’s Wheelhouse
So why is that scene described above such a big deal? Well, for starters, Mission: Impossible 7 has a plot that, quite frankly, is the most appropriate mission for Ving Rhames’ character to shine on. Yes, the loyal companionship of Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) does include a very similar skill set; but as proven during the airport caper that takes place in act 1 of Dead Reckoning - Part One, Luther is better equipped for this kind of scenario.
The mission at hand is the Stickell sweet spot, as he possessed the programming acumen that executed “the Mount Everest of hacks” at the start of Ethan Hunt’s Mission: Impossible story. So outthinking a sentient algorithm, and going off the grid to create a solution it in time for Mission: Impossible 8, is the highest calling Luther Stickell could ever find. It’s all laid out in a scene that recalls that 1996 origin story in particular, back when Ethan and Luther first became friends.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One Reminded Me Just How Pure Luther And Ethan’s Friendship Is
If you revisit Mission: Impossible through your Paramount+ subscription, there’s one scene you should pay close attention to. It’s the moment right after Ethan Hunt successfully tricks Krieger (Jean Reno) into thinking he’s holding the actual NOC List disc.
Revealing to the audience, and Luther Stickell, that the disc Krieger was holding was the actual product, Ethan decides to trust the equally disavowed Luther with the goods. His reasoning was that if his new friend truly knew what he was doing, he wouldn’t have signed up.
When Ving Rhames swears to Tom Cruise that he "won't let the list get out," you really feel that promise being made. You also see one of the greatest friendships on the screen being forged, as Luther Stickell has been there for Ethan Hunt through every Mission: Impossible chapter (although he only cameoed in Ghost Protocol). He's always ready to help, and ever reverent of his friend, it’s a pure buddy system that never fails. It might just be one of the strongest threads to hold this entire saga together.
It’s Always A Good Time To Remind People How Good An Actor Ving Rhames Is
I can’t praise Mission: Impossible 7’s big Luther moment without praising the man himself. Whether it’s his appearances in these films, or other roles like Kenneth in the Dawn of the Dead remake and Cobra Bubbles in Disney’s Lilo and Stitch, Ving Rhames is a consummate performer. The dude crushes every time he comes out to play, always walking a crossroads between amusement, menace and authority.
You can give Tom Cruise all the crazy speed gliding and motorcycle jumps in the world, and it wouldn’t mean anything if there weren’t true human stakes. The survival and trust of Luther Stickell is an unspoken objective in the Mission: Impossible canon, but without Mr. Rhames hitting the right notes as Luther Stickell, it’s not nearly as satisfying. That right there is probably why my Mission: Impossible movies ranking has the second film in dead last, as one of its crimes is providing us with the worst moment of Luther ever.
Some have argued the case of why Mission: Impossible is the best action series still on the market. While that’s definitely up for debate, I’m not against the concept. That being said, it should also be put onto the table that thanks to the teamwork and friendship seen throughout the seven chapters so far, this is an action powerhouse that never skimps on the heart. A heart that Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell very much keeps beating.
