STACK NZ Dec #69

FEATURE

DVD & BD

the Syndicate,” McQuarrie recalls. “But the more we fought against it, the more it became organic to the screenplay. As soon as we began working on the story, we felt it was crying out for that kind of greater threat the Syndicate poses. What I have found is that the Mission: Impossible franchise is this living, breathing thing that makes demands of you and really does kind of push you in the direction it wants to go.”

pays homage to the series’ best characters, while ramping up the franchise’s trademark daredevil attitude. “I wanted this film to pull together the Dream Team of Mission: Impossible and give all the members of the IMF a major role,” McQuarrie

Moreover, McQuarrie wanted to introduce elements that hadn’t been seen in the franchise to date, most notably a gutsy female character who could hold her own against Ethan Hunt. “Two things jumped out at me that we hadn’t seen before: a villain who was a real physical threat to Ethan and a strong, independent woman who would give Ethan Hunt

a run for his money,” he notes. “So those were priorities for me. I really wanted to bring

“The most special thing Chris brings to this movie is his ability to write a scene in a way very few people currently working can write,” says producer Don Granger. “Above and beyond that, he has a vision for action that is extraordinary in that he wants to do everything practically as much as possible. There’s always a CGI-enhanced element, that’s undeniable. But unlike other directors, Chris must get

I wanted this film to pull together the Dream Team of Mission: Impossible and give all the members of IMF a major role

in a woman in an equal role. Until now, women have played a more functional role within the IMF universe, but with Ilsa Faust, we’ve changed things up a bit.” The enigmatic Ilsa Faust, played by Rebecca Ferguson,

explains. “Each of the four movies so far has had a different team dynamic – but for this one, I wanted to reach back into the franchise to bring back the best of them all to create a kind of super group of players… of course starting with Ethan Hunt, but including Jeremy Renner’s William Brandt, Simon Pegg’s Benji and Ving Rhames’s Luther Stickell.”

appears to be aligned with the Syndicate, a shadowy terrorist organisation that’s essentially an anti-IMF and the Rogue Nation of the title. “At first Tom and I decided we didn’t want to follow the thread of

• Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is out on Dec 9

everything in camera. Sets, stunts and physical action – we’re doing it all for

real.”

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