Christopher McQuarrie's 2015 action blockbuster, “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” the fifth film in the series and by far the best, has an unexpectedly backwards action movie structure. It begins with the biggest and most impressive stunt in the movie and ends with the characters sitting around a table discussing how to defuse a bomb placed on a colleague and find the bad guy who is planning the conversation remotely. And yet, despite the advantages, the tension never stops increasing. Every moment of the film's lengthy climax diminishes, while the excitement only increases.
Recall that two hours ago, viewers witnessed an unsimulated stunt in which Tom Cruise clung to the side of a plane as it took off and took it into the sky. Cruise had to be strapped to the side of a real plane to do it, and even needed special contact lenses so he could keep his eyes open in the hurricane-force winds. If you are ten minutes late to the movie, you will have missed the scene. Somehow, “Rogue Country” managed to move forward quickly, creating a twisted spy story about the ultra-capable Ethan Hunt (Cruise), a rogue nation of secret terrorists, and a shadowy femme fatale named Faust Island (Rebecca Ferguson).
Cruise has been very actively involved in the creative process of his most publicized films (most of them). Although he does not write or direct, he tends to dictate the story, influence the performances, and closely supervise all the performers. As the filmmakers admitted, this was certainly true in the climactic scene of the “Rogue Country” frame. 2022 episode of “Light the Fuse,” a podcast dedicated to “Mission: Impossible.” While editing the scene, Macquarie and editor Eddie Hamilton couldn't find a way to make it work. It only came to fruition after a creative and confident suggestion from Cruz. Music seems to have been the key.
Just keep playing the music.
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Remember that when editing movies, temporary music cues are typically used to give the filmmakers a good idea of what a scene will look like once it's finished. Temporary cues can be old movie scores or classical pieces that are familiar with the right mood. The edited version of the film was then given to the musicians, and the musicians composed their scores to follow the rhythm of the individual scenes. Scratch tracks can be risky as some filmmakers prefer temp music and start asking their composers to replicate it. This is one of the reasons why movie soundtracks are often the same.
McQuarrie was concerned about the way he and Hamilton were editing because the climax of “Rogue Nation” was so busy. After the climactic scene in which Benji (Simon Beck) is tied to a bomb, there is a further chase to the Tower of London, which allows Ethan a glimpse of the film's villain, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). It looks like Ethan is trapped in a bulletproof box. Each element of the climax worked at its own tempo, but McQuarrie felt that the film ended too many times.
Cruise, who had come to edit, suggested that the music not stop. If the music continues, tension will be high. Macquarie found that Cruz was right:
“The first cut of Murattu Desam… In the first test, viewers said they felt the film had five endings. And the response to those notes was, 'Well, you have to eliminate some of the business.' The end.' And Tom said, 'No, no, listen to every scene with a temp score and you'll feel like the movie's over.' and he said [composer] Joe Kramer, “Write a 20-minute piece that plays on the last two reels as a sequence.” and the [test] The score has gone up and all the notes have disappeared.”
This is, of course, a wonderful idea. Cruise is absolutely right on this point because the climax works like a charm. Congratulations.
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