2007
Directed by Paul Greengrass
Well, it has not been one of my better months, as I am recovering from surgery and being dumped. The only movies I have felt like watching have been ones where seemingly happy couples get stabbed in the head (subsequently, I have once again been exploring the darkest recesses of Netflix horror). Anyway, I thought I could siphon off some of my ill will by working myself up into a good rant about yet another Hollywood action sequel. Unfortunately, this was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Damn.
This is the third Bourne film in the series. I haven't seen any of the other Bourne movies, but I imagined it would be like Bond films, which is a series that guarantees confusion over convoluted evil plans no matter how much you bone up on the material. Very helpfully, several characters provided some clunky exposition right at the beginning, so I didn't feel overly lost. I suppose my plot summary is that Jason Bourne has no memory of who he is and must run around trying to discover the truth. Nothing like a hot guy with an identity crisis.
Mostly, this film consisted of chase scenes. Bourne is chased through many different cities but always evades his pursuers in increasingly ridiculous ways. This is quite fun in the beginning, but got a bit tedious at the end. Matt Damon elevates the movie, as he is a lot more talented than the standard action hero. Although it does bother me than his character never bothers with a disguise.
I'm not sure it deserves its place on this List, but you could do a lot worse, action movie wise.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Production was unable to shut down Waterloo station so "extras" can be seen pointing at the cameras.
Jason Bourne doesn't smile for the entire movie. I bet no one tells him he has resting bitch face...
Oh der .. sorry to hear your news...
ReplyDeleteBut also sorry you had to wade through this boring load of crash bang kerpow screech. Regrettably I have seen the other two, which may go a small way to explain why 'yet more of exactly the same' left me so cold..
I don't get the Bourne films. Nothing particularly wrong with them, but they're just so unremarkable. There doesn't have to be anything wrong with bolting a load of set pieces together if you do it with style (see: Bond or North By Northwest). But the two Bourne films I saw (1&2) were like variations on the dialogue I just wrote about Madagascar on the Wall-E page. Soullessly compiled parts designed to generate sales to an international audience rather than any vision of what the whole might be.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I wish I had the copy of the Book that featured this movie...I would love to know the reasoning. Yeah the dialogue was probably the worst part...although I guess it isn't a true action movie unless some nerdy guys at a computer screen says to his boss "Um, you might want to take a look at this."
ReplyDeleteEvery time a Bourne movie comes out, I have to re-watch the previous ones to remember what the hell is going on. I'm not going to do that anymore. It never goes anywhere. (However, I do enjoy Matt Damon.)
ReplyDeleteMatt runs around a lot. Matt looks moody. Some cars crash into each other. The plot of either the current movie or the previous one probably aren't critical to enjoying it (or not, as the case may be).
DeleteStill, let's not be too critical. Matt's good at running. He's good at looking moody. And some of the cars even explode when they crash!
Nooo I completely disagree! The Bourne Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum are among my favourite films and my go to when I am in mood for a good action flick. Note I do not include Bourne Legacy (the bloody awful reboot with Jeremy Renner or the newest Bourne with Matt which wasn't as good as it could have been).
ReplyDeleteI think you might like it if you watch from the start Amanda. If you have time I recommend you ignore everyone (in the nicest possible way ;D) and check Identity out. When Greengrass took over the directing he went a little crazy with the steadycam but Doug Liman directed Identity and the chase scenes are slightly easier on the eye).
Identity has a really good plot (well I think) and great characters. I think the others also have that but Identity is important to get invested in the Matt Damon character. You have to know why you are rooting so much for him otherwise it would be a bit pointless.
Funny story...I loved Identity so much when it came out I watched the original TV movie with Richard Chamberlain playing the Jason Bourne character based on the original novels...it was terrible!
Haha I am glad you came Ashley; Bourne needed a defender. And you're totally right about not being properly invested since I didn't see Identity. I wonder why the Book didn't include it?
ReplyDelete