In season 4 ofThe Office, bossMichael Scott (Steve Carell)goes on a bit of a rant aboutDie Hard 4, but what was meant to be an off-the-cuff joke has become reality now in movies. Michael wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, often completely oblivious to the feelings of others and with a pathological need for attention. This was tempered by a natural sweetness and desire to make others happy thatsaved Michael inThe Officefrom his more offensive momentsandallowed his coworkers and the audience to view him as not harmful, just an oblivious idiot.
Still, there were a few times – albeit very few – when Michael’s natural charisma and ability to connect with others shone through. Less frequently, but still there,Michael occasionally had moments of smart observation or astute analysisthat revealed there was a working brain buried under his chronic immaturity and clueless nature. One of those moments happened in one ofThe Officeseason 4’s best episodes, when Michael, in his own way, charmed some new coworkers.
Michael Scott Pointed Out The Problem With Die Hard 4 In The Office Season 4
It’s Completely Disconnected From The First Die Hard
InThe Officeseason 4, episode 4, “Money,” Michael takes a second jobat a call center to make more moneyand get out of some financial troubles, and – to the surprise of no one – his unconventional personality and approach to the job grates on his manager but endears him to his new coworkers. Part of the issue is that the ever-gregarious Michael too often distracts his coworkers with stories and jokes. One of those conversations is Michael sharing his views ofLive Free or Die Hardand why it’s so different from the rest of the franchise:
“You know what, here’s the thing aboutDie Hard 4.Die Hard 1, John McClane, he’s just this normal guy, you know? He’s just this normal, New York City cop who gets his feet cut, and he gets beat up, but he’s just an everyday guy. InDie Hard 4, he’s jumping a motorcycle into a helicopter in the air, you know? He’s invincible. It just sort of lost whatDie Hardwas. It’s notTerminator.”
Of course, the moment is funny - another example of Michael holding forth with coworkers, but an added layer of humor thanks to these coworkers not being tired of him like his subordinates at Dunder Mifflin. Instead, one tells him he “should be a film critic,” which is absurd considering the fact that it’s Michael, before the manager Michael down again. Even with the humor of the moment, which was likely all improvised by Carell,Michael made some insightful points.
Michael Scott Described A Common Problem With Action Movie Franchises
Sequel Bloat Is The Nature Of Big, Tentpole Franchises
The thing is, Michael isn’t wrong aboutDie Hard 4. His only shortsightedness is thatLive Free or Die Hardisn’t the only offender when it comes to sequel bloat, which happens in virtually every action movie franchise. When the crux of an action movie is exactly that - action - it means audiences expect ever more action with each sequel: bigger stunts, more intense action, and inventive fight choreography they haven’t seen before. In most movies, the action serves the plot, but it’s often the other way around with action franchises: the story serves as a vehicle for big set-piece stunts or action sequences.
10 Action Movie Franchises That Totally Went Off The Rails
These action movie franchises went completely off the rails when each new movie tried to be a bigger spectacle than the last one, with weird results.
It’s unfortunate, as the bigger an action franchise gets, the further it often gets from its roots, as Michael pointed out aboutDie Hard. But there’s no way a studio will sign off on a bigger budget unless the movie itself is bigger in every way. It’s just how it works with action franchises, andlong-running, tentpole franchises are virtually all action-oriented in some way.That’s why they’re big-screen popcorn movies. Still, while it’s inevitable, some movie franchises have taken this to the extreme.
The Fast & Furious Franchise Is The Worst Offender Proving Michael Scott’s Point
It’s Not The Only Egregious Example, Though
Of course,the worst offender in this regard is theFast and Furiousfranchise,which long ago abandoned any sense of being reality-based and has instead embraced an increasingly absurd premise. It’s long been a running joke among fans how much the franchise has changed since it began. When it came out in 2001,The Fast and the Furiouswas essentially aPoint Breakremake, with the simple heist plot swapping out surfers for street racers.
Dominic Toretto’s Superhero Powers Totally Changed How I See This Other Vin Diesel Character
Now that Vin Diesel has pretty much turned Fast & Furious' Dom Toretto into a superhero, I’m less excited about his true sci-fi hero, Riddick.
The story has grown to unbelievable proportions since, with stunts that defy the laws of physics, global espionage, government conspiracies, characters returning from the dead, and more. It’s gotten so bad thatit’s now become a meta-joke in theFast and Furiousmovies themselves, with Tyrese Gibson’s Roman Pearce even seriously speculating in oneFast and Furiousmovie that they are in a comic book universeand thus invincible. His reasoning is that there’s no way normal humans would survive all their near-death experiences without a scratch, so they must be superheroes. It’s hard to argue Roman’s logic, or Michael Scott’s.
It’s hard to argue Roman’s logic, or Michael Scott’s.
WhileFast and Furiousis by far the most egregious example of franchise sequel bloat,it’s not the only one. The increasingly complicated, large-scale undertakings Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie have committed to forMission: Impossiblemovie stuntshave become the stuff of legend.Avengers: Endgameis arguably the greatest culmination of a long-running franchise arc ever, but the MCU really set itself up for future failure, as no movie will live up to the epic, time-jumping finale of the Infinity Saga. Michael Scott may be a fool, but he was occasionally known for making good points, and hisDie Hard 4rant inThe Officewas absolutely one of those times.
The Office
This mockumentary comedy series observes the mundane and humorous daily lives of employees at the Scranton branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. It offers insights into office dynamics, personalities, and the eccentric behavior of both management and staff, depicting an ordinary workplace with extraordinary characters.
