tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7877371347086447490.post4353425319765764644..comments2024-02-24T07:09:54.664+11:00Comments on The Audient: Tiresome tropes: The jabbering cowardDerek Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13750747272647975591noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7877371347086447490.post-90142203053418724362015-09-03T06:44:46.228+10:002015-09-03T06:44:46.228+10:00I'm holding out for Optimus Prime and Mr. Spoc...I'm holding out for Optimus Prime and Mr. Spock to join the team.Travis S. McClainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15774869483357940473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7877371347086447490.post-70283808157092559252015-09-01T12:22:16.181+10:002015-09-01T12:22:16.181+10:00Hawkeye will seem even more extraneous the more ne...Hawkeye will seem even more extraneous the more new people they get to join The Avengers. Let's see, so far it's Ant-Man, Spider-Man, some number of the X-Men, the Green Hornet, the Green Lantern, Greedo, Darth Vader, Walrusman, Action Jackson, Lebron James and Elliot Ness. Am I missing anybody?Derek Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13750747272647975591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7877371347086447490.post-37469862518095808182015-09-01T05:27:34.611+10:002015-09-01T05:27:34.611+10:00*there... Damn phone typing!*there... Damn phone typing!Travis S. McClainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15774869483357940473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7877371347086447490.post-66809399777654141562015-09-01T05:26:48.810+10:002015-09-01T05:26:48.810+10:00I was "meh" on Renner, but then he went ...I was "meh" on Renner, but then he went and said those loathsome sexist things about Scarlett Johansson and I went to disliking him. Even if I wasn't already soured on him, I would still say I think both his characters (Brandt and Hawkeye) ought to be killed off because I don't see what value either gives their respective franchises. At least being whacked might give the other characters something to react to; asking us as viewers to care is probably going too far.<br /><br />(I haven't seen any of the Bourne series, so I don't have an opinion on his role therr.)Travis S. McClainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15774869483357940473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7877371347086447490.post-79174058244105228192015-08-31T23:26:36.822+10:002015-08-31T23:26:36.822+10:00Totally. Renner was completely flat. It feels almo...Totally. Renner was completely flat. It feels almost as though this guy has entered into some kind of deal with the devil, hitching a ride on The Avengers, the Bourne series and Mission: Impossible without truly being a very charismatic guy. Perhaps, though, this is some incursion of Tom Cruise's ego. Maybe they were grooming him to take over the franchise until Cruise said "NO. I do it until I'm done doing it, and then it ends."<br /><br />I agree. The movie gives us no reason to care about anything. But Rebecca Ferguson was as good as advertised. Derek Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13750747272647975591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7877371347086447490.post-82312006280520395042015-08-31T13:59:06.928+10:002015-08-31T13:59:06.928+10:00I wasn't as bothered by Benji as you were; for...I wasn't as bothered by Benji as you were; for me, it was Renner's Brandt that was the most glaring hole in the ensemble. When we met him in <i>Ghost Protocol</i>, we weren't sure how far we could trust him to be a team player or the extent to which he was a field operative or a desk guy. And here? We aren't sure how far we could trust him to be a team player or the extent to which he was a field operative or a desk guy. Where's the development? What purpose does he even serve here? If the idea of him one day succeeding Cruise's Hunt as the lead of the franchise is still on the table, then I don't see how positing him as Our Guy at the Office advances that. And if all he's going to be is Our Man at the Office, then why do we even need him? <i>Mission: Impossible</i> isn't about bureaucracy. It's about agents out on a limb, up against incredible odds with only each other to rely on (in addition to their outrageous spy-fi gimmicks).<br /><br />In the final analysis, I can summarize my problem with <i>Rogue Nation</i> with one statement: "I just didn't care." I didn't care who the villain was, what his plan was, what "danger" our guys were in, or anything else. This falls dead last for me in the series, even beneath <i>M:i:III</i>, which you've heard me malign for being so recycled. At least that movie had the screen presence of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and the slick Vatican abduction sequence.Travis S. McClainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15774869483357940473noreply@blogger.com