STACK New Zealand December Issue 69

14 / 60

Christopher McQuarrie chose to accept the challenge
of writing and directing the fifth film in the
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE franchise, ROGUE NATION.
S ince its leap to the
big screen in 1996,
the Mission:
Impossible franchise has
been kept fresh and
energised by handballing
the films to new directors
each time – from Brian De
Palma and John Woo, to J.J.
Abrams and Brad Bird. While Tom
Cruise remains the constant, each
successive filmmaker puts their own
stamp on the missions he undertakes, thus
warding off the potential for franchise
fatigue.
Screenwriter and sometime director
Christopher McQuarrie grabs the ball
for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,
delivering a propulsive and inventively shot
espionage blockbuster from a screenplay
(which he also penned) that’s
considerably more dense,
dramatic and serpentine
than action-oriented
predecessor Ghost
Protocol. Not surprising,
given that McQuarrie is also
the guy who wrote The Usual
Suspects.
The writer-director’s association
with Cruise was instrumental in his
landing the job on Rogue Nation.
The pair had previously worked together
on the 2012 thriller Jack Reacher – as
well as the Cruise vehicles Valkyrie and
Edge of Tomorrow, which McQuarrie
scripted – and their collaboration on the
new Mission: Impossible film takes the
franchise to a whole new level.
“Tom really has been the core of
Mission: Impossible in every sense –
and he’s so inherently involved in the
character and the storyline that he has a
unique sixth sense we all rely on,” says
McQuarrie. “I love to work with him, yet
we approach filmmaking in two different
ways. I’m all about logic, order and
problem solving. Tom is all about emotions
and challenge building. And together that
really seems to push us both.”
“Chris has an incredible mind,” adds
Cruise. “He’s an extraordinary writer
and filmmaker and to see his sensibility
applied to this genre is something I was
excited about. What Chris and I share is
that both of us have that need to make
every moment the best it can be.”
McQuarrie’s approach to the fifth
Mission: Impossible installment
Director
Christopher
McQuarrie
visit FEATURE DVD&BD
14 DECEMBER 2015