The joy of the Mission: Impossible franchise is the larger-than-life action sequences – and the even more impressive locations they take place in.
One of the most recent arrives in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. The Midfield Terminal at Abu Dhabi International Airport – seen in public for the first time during the latest instalment – takes centre stage. With its colossal lantern-like chandeliers, curving ceiling beams, blooming pillars and latticed walls that bring to mind traditional mashrabiyas, the terminal certainly serves as a photogenic backdrop.
However, director Christopher McQuarrie says the team had the unique difficulty of making the terminal – which was still in construction when the cast and crew arrived in 2021 – look like a fully functioning airport.
“It was extremely challenging,” McQuarrie says. “We were shooting in an airport that had to look like a very busy airport. That involved lots of supporting actors, I think it was about 150 in total, not to mention all the crew.”
To make matters more taxing, filming was taking place at the height of the pandemic when social distancing measures and safety protocols were in place. Abu Dhabi was not initially pegged as a location for the new Mission: Impossible, but as Covid restrictions began to grip the world, the crew found the emirate to be somewhere they could continue filming while abiding by safety measures.
“We had to cut at one point because I walked into a shot still wearing my mask,” Simon Pegg, who plays field agent Benji Dunn in the blockbuster franchise, says. “I was so used to wearing my mask that the scene started and Benji walked in [with his mask on].”
A key scene filmed in the terminal involves Pegg's character scuffling to find a bomb hidden in a case that is making its rounds within the labyrinthine baggage distribution network.
“I was completely flabbergasted by it,” Pegg says. “It’s just this incredible network of conveyor belts and ladders. When we got back to London, we had to recreate a little corner of it to shoot the scenes that are slightly more close up. But what a fun thing, to have an entire airport to ourselves. It was great.”
“Unprecedented,” McQuarrie adds.
It is the third time the film franchise has been filmed in the UAE. The first was for Ghost Protocol. Released in 2011, the box office hit features what is arguably Cruise's most famous stunt, where he scales Dubai's Burj Khalifa.
Cruise later visited Abu Dhabi to film a scene where he performed a Halo (high altitude low opening) jump over the dunes for 2018's Fallout.
Filming for Dead Reckoning took place in the UAE capital over 15 days in 2021, with locations in the Liwa desert and Midfield Terminal.
The terminal is where one of franchise’s new main characters is introduced. Hayley Atwell plays the mysterious Grace, a light-fingered accomplice who becomes embroiled in Ethan Hunt’s (Tom Cruise) mission to save the world from a sentient and nefarious artificial intelligence system.
Grace, Atwell says, was still undefined when she was cast and the American-British actress was pivotal in building her character.
“The character didn’t exist at first,” Atwell says. “Tom [Cruise] and McQuarrie look for actors they want to work with and then the character is a collaborative effort that comes out of the work. You’re also finding it in the moment as well as in preparation for it.”
Coming from a background in theatre, Atwell says she has become accustomed to experimenting in a rehearsal space with the identity and body language of a character before “landing on the one thing that you feel is the most useful for the play".
“When I came into the screen test, it wasn’t entirely clear who she would be," she says. "They were seeing what was landing on film and what qualities seemed to be the most interesting and alive that could fit into this world.
"We had five months of training to find out her physical fighting style, but also developing the skill of drifting in a race car so that by the time I came on set, I was safe enough to make sure that I could do it well with Tom and with enough freedom that we could improvise and create little moments of character.”
Another character making her debut in the franchise is Pom Klementieff’s Paris. The Guardians of the Galaxy star takes on the role of a ruthless assassin, who, as the film progresses, displays a more affable side to her.
Like Atwell, Klementieff worked to build Paris’s persona almost from the ground up, having regular conversations with Cruise and McQuarrie about how to embody the character.
Giving a snippet of what conversations were like, Klementieff says: “I was trying to find the fight style of the character. Sometimes it would be things like: ‘Oh, I would love to kick. I love kicking,’ so we have to have an entire outfit that allows you to do that. Or: ‘Oh, what about a kilt? Yeah, a kilt is cool.’ We improvised a lot.
"Working on this specific character, it’s more about behaviour and movement than actual words. But then there are words in the end, so when the character speaks, you actually really listen. You see a side of the character that is completely different than what you’ve seen before.”
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is out in UAE cinemas on July 9, three days before its US and global rollout on July 12.
AGL AWARDS
Golden Ball - best Emirati player: Khalfan Mubarak (Al Jazira)
Golden Ball - best foreign player: Igor Coronado (Sharjah)
Golden Glove - best goalkeeper: Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah)
Best Coach - the leader: Abdulaziz Al Anbari (Sharjah)
Fans' Player of the Year: Driss Fetouhi (Dibba)
Golden Boy - best young player: Ali Saleh (Al Wasl)
Best Fans of the Year: Sharjah
Goal of the Year: Michael Ortega (Baniyas)
Four tips to secure IoT networks
Mohammed Abukhater, vice president at FireEye in the Middle East, said:
- Keep device software up-to-date. Most come with basic operating system, so users should ensure that they always have the latest version
- Besides a strong password, use two-step authentication. There should be a second log-in step like adding a code sent to your mobile number
- Usually smart devices come with many unnecessary features. Users should lock those features that are not required or used frequently
- Always create a different guest network for visitors
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Company%20profile
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Roma 4
Milner (15' OG), Dzeko (52'), Nainggolan (86', 90 4')
Liverpool 2
Mane (9'), Wijnaldum (25')
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
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Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
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On sale: now
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
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Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
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UAE v IRELAND
All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi
1st ODI, Friday, January 8
2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10
3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12
4th ODI, Thursday, January 14
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The specs: 2018 Ford F-150
Price, base / as tested: Dh173,250 / Dh178,500
Engine: 5.0-litre V8
Power: 395hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 555Nm @ 2,750rpm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 12.4L / 100km
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness'
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg and Rachel McAdams
Rating: 3/5
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
One in four Americans don't plan to retire
Nearly a quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of ageing in the workforce.
Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they'd like.
According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 23 per cent of workers, including nearly two in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.
According to government data, about one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June. The study surveyed 1,423 adults in February this year.
For many, money has a lot to do with the decision to keep working.
"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."
When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14 per cent of Americans under the age of 50 and 29 per cent over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another four in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared.
"One of the things about thinking about never retiring is that you didn't save a whole lot of money," says Ronni Bennett, 78, who was pushed out of her job as a New York City-based website editor at 63.
She searched for work in the immediate aftermath of her layoff, a process she describes as akin to "banging my head against a wall." Finding Manhattan too expensive without a steady stream of income, she eventually moved to Portland, Maine. A few years later, she moved again, to Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Sometimes I fantasise that if I win the lottery, I'd go back to New York," says Ms Bennett.
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
