Deadline reports that Renner won’t replace, but rather star alongside, Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible 4,” which will be directed by Brad Bird (“Ratatouille,” “The Incredibles”) and produced by Cruise and the prolific J.J. Abrams.

“Mission” marks the second major leading role for the 39-year-old star who was recently cast as the superhero Hawkeye in Marvel Studios’ giant ensemble event picture, “The Avengers” (2012), to be directed by Joss Whedon.

Renner’s casting fills the last prominent piece in Paramount’s development of the film, and gives the studio a reliable and respected option to continue the franchise in the future, should Cruise bequeath his primary protagonist status in future films (though Cruise is expected to be back at least for no. 5).

Other top contenders for the role were rising star, Tom Hardy (“Bronson”) and “Star Trek’s” Chris Pine.  Kevin Zegers, Christopher Egan and Anthony Mackie (Renner’s “Hurt Locker” co-star) were also considered.

The script was penned by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec.

Filming will take place in the U.S., Vancouver, Prague and Dubai.

“The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug.”  The words of embedded war correspondent, Chris Hedges, linger on the screen in the opening frames of Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” hinting that what is to follow is anything but your typical war film.

The opening sequence, which takes place in 2004 Baghdad, sets the cold-as-steel tone with a wickedly intense bomb-defusing scene that not only sees a dramatic and unexpected departure from convention, but also familiarizes the audience with the proper delicate and methodical manner in which these types of situations must be handled.  Similarly calculated and gripping scenes populate the rest of the film.

As soon as Bigelow (“Point Break,” “Strange Days,” “K-19: The Widowmaker”) mercilessly establishes that safety is a luxury not afforded to even the most cautious, she introduces the film’s hero, Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner), a brash, young new arrival to his Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit (bomb squad) in Iraq.  He and his comrades carefully and routinely dismantle devices intended to kill them.  Already battle hardened with stints in Afghanistan and elsewhere in Iraq, James has become so familiar with the procedures and protocols in place to prevent his death (earnestly illustrated at the beginning of the film) that he feels comfortable ignoring them.

Sgt. J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), his next in command, plays by the book and prefers the common-sense approach, often rightly becoming  infuriated when James’ employs his rogue methods.  But William James is a different breed.  He is a highly functional and talented zombie.  An unsung casualty of the horrors of war.  And what’s more, he has become addicted to the very horrors responsible for the decay of his soul.

Renner, known best as the star of the short-lived TV show, “The Unusuals,” delivers a fully characterized, powerhouse performance that seems likely to catapult him onto the A-list.  Mackie (“We Are Marshall”) is a steady and reliable foil to Renner’s unpredicatable maverick.

Despite it’s successes, “Locker” falls just short of masterpiece territory.  Barely.  A cliched, fully-clothed, “rape shower” scene, a semi-forced mourning of a dead Iraqi boy, and an out of place AWOL sequence are only minor flaws in an otherwise sophisticated and compelling tale.

“The Hurt Locker” is not only a taught, evenly paced, well-acted, spellbinding thriller, but is the first Iraq War film to deliver a penetrating, gripping study of heroism without falling into the trappings of either nationalism or cynicism and condescension.  This gem is Bigelow’s best effort to date, and the best war film since Terry Malick’s gorgeous and contemplative 1998 masterpiece, “The Thin Red Line.”

Score: (5/5)

“Notorious,” starring Jamal Woolard, is the life and death story of one of the most famous rappers of all time, Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious BIG.  The movie opens in familiar biopic fashion;  We see a key point in the subject’s life, e.g. their death, and then we flashback to when it all began, and work our way back to that key moment.

The main difference between this biography and other recent films of the same ilk like “Ray”, or “Walk The Line” is most noticeably the acting. We all know Jamie Foxx won an Academy Award for his portrayal as Ray Charles, and Reese Witherspoon won an Oscar for her performance in “Walk the Line”, but don’t worry–nobody in “Notorious” will be bringing home any prestigious hardware.  Everything just seemed so over-the-top; from Puff Daddy’s (Derek Luke) constant hand movements and dance moves, to Voletta Wallace (Angela Bassett) struggling to maintain her Jamaican accent.  Whether these people really act like that in real life, or the dialogue was just poorly written, it was just awful either way.  It seemed as if every time someone talked, they had something profound to say, regardless of the time or situation. Every time Voletta Wallace opened her mouth it was some great piece of wisdom. This made the characters seem unrealistic, which is no easy task considering they were based on real people.

Another issue with this film is the entire narrative is very anti-climactic.  If you know anything about Biggie and his story, than you already know everything that’s about to happen. I’ve been a Notorious BIG fan for awhile, and I’ve known most of his story, but I was hoping for more.  It’s no secret that he sold drugs on the streets of Brooklyn, then became a world-famous rapper and then was shot and killed, oops, is that a spoiler alert? Obviously the filmmakers shouldn’t take blatant liberties with the story, but adding a layer of depth and background to the secondary characters could have helped a ton!  There were times when they didn’t even introduce people, and I was left wondering who they were, and why were they hanging around so much.  Even though I knew the rapper’s story, there could have been more drama that might have surprised me, or at least helped me become more emotionally invested.  I knew Ray Charles’ story too, but it was far more compelling than this one.

On a positive note, if you enjoy Notorious BIG’s music, than this film can be fun.  It’s been a few years since I’ve listened to him and it definitely makes me want to go dust off the CD, er I-Tunes now.  Also, there are some really funny moments when the movie decides to put the actors in some real life, famous situations.  Not least of these is the infamous “Vibe” magazine covers during the peak of the West Coast vs East Coast rap battle (who won that, by the way?).  It was hilarious to see the Death Row cover featuring a real picture of Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre next to the character Tupac (Anthony Mackie) and the character Suge Knight (Sean Ringgold).  There were also your typical flashbacks, and a few montages that really served no purpose for this movie, but managed make me laugh a few times.  One montage in particular that ended with Notorious having grown a beard stands out. Thank goodness they made it clear time had passed!

Overall the movie wasn’t horrible, but could have been much better–the acting and dialogue being the most prominent areas in need improvement.  But if you want to have a little fun watching Notorious BIG try and balance his rap career and juggle three women at the same time, then you should check this out. If you really want to hear some old Biggie tracks, and if it’s on HBO or something, give it a look, but you might weigh other options before renting it.

Fun fact about the movie: The little boy playing Notorious BIG as a 10-13 year old was actually Biggie’s and Faith Evan’s real son, Christopher Jordan Wallace. How odd would it be to play your father that you never really knew? (Chris Jr was born in 1996, BIG was killed in 1997)

(2.5/5)