Friday 22 April 2011

The New 'Jason Bourne' is Jeremy Renner


Arguably Renner has been on our screens way too much since his break-through in the Hurt Locker.  Yet he’s never really been seen since he has broken out.  The films he’s appeared in since are The Town, where he is a secondary character,  Mission Impossible: Ghost Recall, Thor as Hawkeye (for, like a millisecond) and the upcoming Avengers film. 

Being his first major lead role, MovieCake would like to offer Jez Ren big congratulations.  It’s about time in our opinion.  Renner has proven himself to be one the more talented of the waiting to make it in Hollywood actors out there.  More importantly he’s one of those who have actually been noticed.  Concern did arise for a brief time when he was being casted as side roles, secondary characters.  Renner is a strong, intense and capable actor, it’s about time that he got his chance, now he has.

As many know already the Bourne franchise was practically doomed after its director and lead actor decided to call it a day.  But seeing as Bourne was not their intellectual property the studios have alot to play with.  So what can we expect of Bourne this time around?

Well according to Deadline he will play:  “an operative from a covert government program that is even more dangerous than the Treadstone brainwashing program that hatched Bourne.”

So instead of recasting Bourne they have decided to just have Bourne in the universe of other more dangerous threats and conspiracies.  This could absolutely go tits up for lack of better words.  Keeping a  franchise going with a different lead and a different creative team is one thing but to essentially make a completely different story from the original is another.

However, we could just see this as a friendly spin-off.  In which case, it could well work.  Maybe they’ve finally realised the problems of recasting Bourne, especially after Matt Damon made the role so iconic.  This also helps expand the universe whilst keeping the tone the same.  Having this universe more importantly helps allow for sequels and franchise galore.  And without any real source material to go from it can allow for more originality and creativity.

On the other hand it could be a total fail.  Wanting to hard to be like another film that has gone before it while not quite hitting the spot that everyone expects.  With the brand of Bourne there are expectations in place.  The trilogy was a complete success, each film was as strong as the one before it despite people having favourites.  It is also big shoes for Renner to fill.  Will people be happy with Renner in the shoes or Damon? 

You may be able to tell we’re not really sure what to expect from this.  The Tony Gilroy-directed picture could be the best action picture in years yet it could also be the one which puts the nail in the reboot/remake coffin.

Look out for this Saturdays Serious Slice: Ben and Chris Discuss the Reboot, where Chris and I discuss scenarios like this in more detail.

Ben Doran

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