Jeremy Renner is here with his docu-series where he tries to give back to society and at the same time also collaborate for some fun assignments with some of his movie star friends from all over the world. Is the series worth your time? Read the full review to find out.
Director: Zach Merck, Rupert Smith
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Vanessa Hudgens, Anil Kapoor, Sebastián Yatra
Available On: Disney+ Hotstar
Duration: 4 Episodes, 45-50 Minutes Each
‘Rennervations’ is an original four-part series that embraces Jeremy Renner's lifelong passion to give back to communities around the world by reimagining unique purpose-built vehicles to meet a community's needs. Behind the big screen, Jeremy is a construction aficionado, and he is heavily invested in the highly creative fabricator culture that exists across the globe and hopes to change lives with these skills and inspire others to do the same. In each episode, Jeremy has the help of his celebrity friends – Vanessa Hudgens, Anil Kapoor, Sebastián Yatra, and Anthony Mackie – to deliver the repurposed vehicle helping each organisation fulfil their mission. Will Jeremy be able to achieve success in this venture? Will the superstars joining him in this quest have the same passion as him? Will they all be able to finally deliver on time? Well, for all that you’ll have to watch the show.
Anil Kapoor has been a star, and he still is a star, and he always will be. He proves in every sense of the statement. While Jeremy Renner and the others toiled their way in the heat of Rajasthan to get the desired output, Anil Kapoor just breezed through it all, and that too, without even shedding a drop of sweat. Anil Kapoor, portraying his real self on screen showed how popular a movie star he is, and what he can do if he sets his mind to a certain project.
Jeremy Renner was without a doubt the best thing about this show. His vision for the entire docu-series is what keeps you hooked till the very end. Usually, you would not see such big stars doing things on their own, but you can see that Jeremy Renner himself went all the way out and worked together with the local teams and did the groundwork with them. He sweats it out with them, and that’s what makes the performance so believable.
Anthony Mackie is funny as usual, and some of the jokes that he cracks throughout are hilarious. He brings the much-needed fun element to an otherwise heavy show.
Vanessa Hudgens is cute and brings in the element of surprise in the show.
Sebastián Yatra too showcases a side of his that not many of his fans would have seen.
Zach Merck and Rupert Smith don’t have much to do in the direction department. Being the captains of the ship, they should have brought a lot more depth into the stories by showcasing a bit more of the background stories and the emotional connection that the star cast has with that specific community. Also, Jeremy Renner seems to be at the helm of it all, and therefore, it feels that he himself has only directed the episodes and Merck and Smith have just assisted him. There doesn’t come out a distinctive feature that the two directors brought on board.
However, there is also a certain level of vanity involved on Jeremy Renner's part, as the producer, which as a viewer you would get to notice. It's understandable that he has set up the entire thing in motion, but at times, it seems like he is trying to do the entire thing in order to absolve himself rather than genuinely trying to help out society. Honestly, the entire show has that flavour of vanity in it, considering any other star would just go out and quietly do charity. Making a show out of it just in order to be able to make millions out of it, definitely seems pushy, when you're trying to do charity. It's like celebrities calling the paparazzi and asking them to come and click them when they're out to donate food, money or provisions to poor people.
Bill Winters, Kimo Proudfoot, Mike Schneier and Siddharth Shukla’s cinematography is the best part of the show. The way they all have managed to bring out different locales so beautifully and yet managed to keep a seamless approach to the presentation is what makes the show not look and feel boring, despite being a documentary.
Nicole Conrad, Noel Guerra, Edward A. Bishop, Pete Hentrich, John Parsons, Sujit Agrawal, Jared Aston, and Omega Hsu’s editing is top-notch. They’ve managed to keep the episodes tight and light-hearted with not many boring or emotional or long speeches. That helps the viewers also have a fun time while watching a docu-series, otherwise it can sometimes become too monotonous watching a documentary.
Yes
‘Rennervations’ is one docu-series that doesn’t go too deep into the emotional baggage of the community members but much rather tries to dole out the solutions in a quick and swift manner. Jeremy Renner definitely has done a great job in getting his research in place and getting the entire thing in motion. Anil Kapoor definitely steals the show. The way he says ‘I am a star, I don’t sweat’ makes you realise the power of such a big star in India, especially in the smaller towns and cities of the country. The rest of the stars also play their parts to the best of their capabilities. If you’re looking to watch a light-hearted documentary or a docu-series, ‘Rennervations’ is the answer. Don’t think of the vanity involved in it, and you will have a gala time. It’s indeed a good One Time Watch. I am going with 3 stars.