Chad Michael Collins and Tom Berenger are back in action in a franchise that has lasted nearly three decades: Sony's Sniper. Kaare Andrews (Cabin Fever: Patient Zero, Spider-Man: Doctor Octopus) directs the newest installment, taking on the challenge of following up seven prequel films.
Andrews not only directs film and television, but he's also a big name in the comic book industry. He was the very first recipient of the Shuster Award for Outstanding Artist back in 2005, leading the charge for talents such as Pia Guerra (Y: The Last Man), Fiona Staples (Saga), and Stuart Immonen (Ultimate Spider-Man).
We got the awesome opportunity to chat with Andrews and picked his brain about the new movie. Take a look at what the director had to say about Sniper: Assassin's End below!
Joe: I’d like to start off by asking you to tell me about Sniper: Assassin’s End in your own words.
Kaare Andrews: The long answer is that when I was a teenager I watched Sniper in 1993 with my friend in his basement. And 27 years later I find myself directing the newest Sniper and it’s strange to have a franchise last that long. There’s like a handful of titles that have lasted thirty years, like Star Wars and Rambo, maybe. I’m a big fan of the genre and I think it is so cool to have a franchise last this long.
Joe: I understand this is the eighth installment in the Sniper series. Which of the prequels did you look to the most for inspiration when directing Assassin’s End?
Kaare Andrews: Well, I watched them all and I tried to see what worked and what didn’t work but I looked to the first Sniper film as my point of reference both for visual vocabulary but also for ideas and aesthetics and character. So I deliberately tried to echo some of the signature elements of that first film, such as a sniper emerging from the ground and bullets flying through the air.
It was fun to come up with our own ways of honoring some of that visual vocabulary, and what I try to do is identify it and expand on it and grow it in a new way. It’s the same way I approach comic books. Like if I’m writing Iron Fist or Spider-Man, I always try to go back to those original stories and try to understand those original concepts and re-honor them. So I’m never interested in re-inventing things, but I’m always interested in re-engaging the core concepts of what made that thing great.
Some of the other Sniper films get very big as far as scale and war goes, but this one is kind of a small story that is character-based circling around a father and a son, so I approached it that way.
Joe: What was it like to work alongside Chad Michael Collins and Tom Berenger?
Kaare Andrews: Berenger plays his same characters and Chad Michael Collins plays the son that was established a few films back. When you meet Berenger’s character in our film, he’s an older guy living in the woods than who we saw in the first film. And I found it so cool to be a part of a franchise that has lasted this long.
Joe: Did you approach the actors who have been in previous Sniper films differently than the way you directed the rest of the cast due to their familiarity with the material?
Kaare Andrews: I try not to treat actors any different from each other. Tom Berenger and Chad Michael Collins definitely have a bit of a leadership role on set because it’s their franchise and they’ve been doing these films for so long. So you have to honor that but also I try to treat people equally, and everyone was great to work with and up to the challenge. We got very physical in shooting, and there were guns and explosions and everyone was up to the task. We had a really great little ensemble and a nice cadre of actors.
Joe: Which of your previous works helped prepare you the most for this project?
Kaare Andrews: That’s an interesting question. Well, I’ve always been a fan of martial arts. I trained a little bit myself, and I’ve always loved to choreograph and reverse-engineer fights. I’m a fan of martial arts and action movies and MMA and Japanese pop culture and there’s a bit of a nod to that in this film as well.
The film has a lot of overlapping different genres that kind of overlap to create one movie, and I found that interesting that I was the director because naturally I have this weird career overlap and the film itself also reflected this strange cultural overlap.
Joe: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Kaare Andrews: Take a look at this movie. I think it’s a bit different than you would expect. It’s a genre that is underserved right now, but it is a bit of an overlap of cultural references.
It honors the original franchise but in a new way. It’s not really a military movie as much as it is a film about a father and son and it is no accident that it’s being released around Father’s Day. It’s an interesting installment for a franchise that has lasted thirty years.
Sniper: Assassin's End is now available. Meanwhile, the Ultimate Sniper Collection is at Wal-Mart, which is a collection of all eight films together for the first time ever.
Check out the trailer and synopsis below and be sure to share your thoughts on Andrews' comments in the usual spot.
Special Ops sniper Brandon Beckett (Chad Michael Collins, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare) is set up as the primary suspect for the murder of a foreign dignitary on the eve of signing a high-profile trade agreement with the United States. Narrowly escaping death, Beckett realizes that there may be a dark operative working within the government, and partners with the only person whom he can trust: his father, legendary sniper Sgt. Thomas Beckett (Golden Globe®-winner Tom Berenger).
Both Becketts are on the run from the CIA, Russian mercenaries and Lady Death, a Yakuza-trained assassin (Japanese actress and singer Sayaka Akimoto in her Hollywood film debut) with sniper skills that rival both legendary sharpshooters.
Sniper: Assassin's End is now available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital.