I don’t know about you all, but I hadn’t really noticed until I wrote the headline above that Jeremy Renner has himself firmly entrenched in not one, not two, but three major franchises. I’d have thought one would be enough for most actors, but apparently, the more the better.
Speaking of more (or in the case below, “bigger”) being better, Renner had this to say about Avengers: Age of Ultron while making press rounds for his newest film Kill the Messenger (which is by all accounts decidedly not big):
I think everything that worked in the first [Avengers] is exponentially going to be better in this one. I think the comedic relief, I think the action, is going to be bigger.
But wait, there’s more (and following the logic above, that makes it better). When it comes to Mission: Impossible 5, which Renner is shooting right now alongside Tom Cruise, Renner stated the following about director Christopher McQuarrie‘s approach to the film:
It’s hard to go bigger than the Burj Khalifa thing from Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, but I know they’re going to create great action sequences. I know they’ve done one or two so far.
Renner’s words should come as no surprise, as it’s a commonly held belief in Hollywood that all sequels must be bigger than their predecessors. But I don’t think that’s true: “going bigger” can also make a sequel bloated (see: The Dark Knight Rises) and/or render it almost totally unwatchable (see: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen).
Now, I’m not saying that will happen to either the Avengers or Mission: Impossible franchises, as Joss Whedon is a great directorial fit for the Marvel universe and because I have an easy time trusting Tom Cruise to deliver a good action movie. But of the two, the one that interests me most is the Mission: Impossible series: I love me an action flick that understands what it is and doesn’t try to be what it isn’t, and that describes the Mission: Impossible films to a T.
Oh, and lest we forget about that as-yet-untitled Bourne sequel, the one that doesn’t involve Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass, that franchise is probably going to be going bigger as well. And to do it, Renner thinks Universal might employ “the Marvel model”, in which the Jason Bourne and Aaron Cross plotlines would collide to form a cohesive world.
It’s actually not a bad idea, and I think it’s what many have been pining for, especially now that Damon and Greengrass are returning to the franchise, but I’d like to hear some of your thoughts on all of this.
Is bigger really better? Do Renner’s statements make you any more or less excited for these upcoming franchise installments? Sound off with some thoughts below.
