November Blind Spot Review: The Bourne Legacy (2012)

“Well, if you’re going to reprogram human genetic material, you need a delivery system, and nothing works better than virus. It’s like a suitcase.”
– Dr Marta Shearing

SYNOPSIS: Aaron Cross, a new hero, experiences life-or-death stakes that have been triggered by previous events. – via IMDB

Okay, there we have it. I have finally watched this. After putting it off for so long. Like, forever, because you can’t stamp “Bourne” over something but discard of Matt Damon. Honestly, that’s how I feel. Well, watching this I could think only that this isn’t necessarily a bad movie at all, it just suffers heavily from being cast under the Bourne banner. The movie spent a lot of time establishing that this was going down concurrently with The Bourne Ultimatum, though at a later stage it flicks to Jason escaping, again, Pam Landy being in a lot of trouble, and this story continuing independently. Which would be fine, except what this story was relying on was probably one of the thinnest thread in movie history. Like, really. There is so much potential here, and they got the meat of it down, just the implementation of it was messy. Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross was definitely not like Bourne. Well, trained, maybe, and sporting a great jacket, but aside from that? Totally different. Maybe that has to do with the fact that the original Cross, who was in actual fact Kenneth James Kitsom, was a little bit slower than your average person. Not saying this offensively, he just comes across as more caring, softer. He was emotional. Yes, he will do what it takes to get away and all that, but Marie was initially a necessity for Jason, and that grew into something. I suppose the same could be argued for Cross and Marta Shearing, but it really isn’t the same. The logic didn’t quite follow as cleanly in this installment to the Bourne franchise. Case in point? When the “psychiatrist” started yelling, Marta should have realised something was amiss. One thing that really was super sad for me was seeing Kitsom before he became Cross. It was depressing and sad, and raised a whole bunch of other questions for me. Such as, if he was 12 points shy of the minimum requirement for the US Army, surely that means that he is not legally allowed to consent to them experimenting on him? I mean, if he cannot legally join the military, surely he cannot legally tell them to create a super soldier out of him? Just saying. Interesting avenue to explore right there. I found Cross to be quite endearing towards Marta, and Weisz and Renner worked well together. Renner was a great Cross, and I enjoyed his character quite a bit. There is potential to work with there. I think the biggest downfall of this is that Cross’s story feels like it was shoved in between Bourne’s stuff, to introduce him, but it was done sloppily, and his whole story was a giant thing of survive and get the drugs. No more, no less. I felt as if the exhilaration of the previous three films was missing here. Yeah, action involved for sure, but nothing that really thrills. Small gripe from me, too, is that there were times were there were very awkward attempts at subtle humour. As I said, not necessarily an awful film, it’s just not really a Bourne film. I suppose, like The Godfather: Part III, if you look at it as something that does not belong to the canon, then it isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. But if you compare it to its namesake, it will fall quite short of the mark.

 

Rapid Review: The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

“This is Jason Bourne, the toughest target that you have ever tracked. He is really good at staying alive, and trying to kill him and failing… just pisses him off.”
– Pamela Landy

SYNOPSIS: Bourne is once again brought out of hiding, Jason Bourne is now hunted by the people who made him what he is–legendary assassin. Having lost his memory and the one person he loved, he is undeterred by the barrage of bullets and a new generation of highly-trained killers. Bourne has only one objective: to go back to the beginning and find out who he was. – via IMDB

Ah, Jason! Just as you think the story is over, a way is found for Jason to be back in the cross-hairs of the United States Government – and really, where else would we want him? Well, for our entertainment at least. The Bourne Supremacy features more shaky cam than I would like, and the end, while brilliant, is a little bit saddening because it took away the whole conspiracy aspect if he made the choice himself, doesn’t it? Matt Damon, of course, was simply excellent here, though we expect nothing less. Joan Allen returns as Pamela Landy, and she still is a wonderful person to hunt Bourne. She is definitely not like the others though, and has a totally different view of Bourne, and I highly appreciate it. Little bits and pieces of Jason Bourne/David Webb’s story come about, and it just continues to ensnare, interest and entertain. The movie is fast paced and thrilling, with a super smart story and excellent performances to carry it. David Strathairn’s Noah Vosen was such a crooked dude, and so necessary for the story. I loved the strife between him and Pam, it was intense, and at extreme opposites to the relationship that has been forged between Pam and Bourne. Nicky Parsons got some more time in this outing, and that was also pretty good. The movie is shot exceptionally well, the performances are spot on, visually the film is great and that choreography? Again absolutely mesmerizing. The Bourne Ultimatum proves why the Bourne trilogy (and yes, people, in my mind it is a trilogy only) is so successful – each installment is equally as gripping and entertaining, and they are all smart. I had an absolute blast revisiting this franchise, it has been well worth the time.

Rapid Review: The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

“What were my words? What did I say? I said leave me alone.”
– Jason Bourne

SYNOPSIS: When Jason Bourne is framed for a CIA operation gone awry, he is forced to resume his former life as a trained assassin to survive. – via IMDB

Sequel time! The Bourne movies are some of the few movies that remain excellent… well, the original Damon trilogy at any rate. The Bourne Supremacy continues that line of brilliance of its predecessor. Opens to show us the sweet little life Marie and Jason have built together on the run, and when that is snatched away from them, it is genuinely a bitter experience. From there, things just escalate. The plot was another solid one, and the performances all round were excellent. Karl Urban was an enjoyable enemy to stand opposite Jason, and they could really go each other. We see more about Jason Bourne, the man that he was, the man that he has become, and how he desperately wants nothing more to do with the US Government, but apparently they are not done with him. The film takes its time to pace itself, which is something I have always appreciated about these films, and Bourne is just such an amazing character. I love how dark and brooding and incredibly smart he is, it works on so many levels. Also, his jackets in this movie… wow. Let me just have my fetish moment. Matt Damon was, of course, in fine form here, reminding me as always why Bourne is one of my favourite Damon roles. I thought Landy was a great pick to hunt Bourne, she was totally different from Conklin but it worked, definitely not a bad thing. I thought the movie was shot well, though at times I felt that the shaky cam effect was overused, as instead of pulling you into the action, it just gives you a headache and a dizzy spell. I don’t actually have any complaints here, the movie is gripping, thrilling, smart and entertaining with fantastic choreography – everything you’d expect from a Bourne film.