Rapid Review: Jason Bourne (2016)

“Remembering everything doesn’t mean you know everything.”
– Nicky Parsons

SYNOPSIS: The CIA’s most dangerous former operative is drawn out of hiding to uncover more explosive truths about his past. – via IMDB

Long have I waited for the new Jason Bourne movie after I heard it was coming. I am sure you all know that I absolutely adore the Bourne franchise. The trailers for this looked promising, and to be sure, I was not let down. Jason Bourne was exactly what you would expect from a Bourne film – it was fast paced, featured great action and solid performances, and keeps you riveted every step of the way. While the story was not as tight for this as it has been for its predecessors, this does not make for a bad watch. I liked the way that this movie covered some of the bigger events that have come to pass since Ultimatum, and it did so effectively. Matt Damon is, of course, Bourne, and he delivered every step of the way here. Greengrass returns for this, and gives us another solid film, but I feel that the shaky cam work here was more hectic than usual, and it has been the one thing I don’t love about these movies. I am not big on shaky cam. It works for this style of film, but sometimes it is just too much, and there were more than a few times I found the camera to just be too shaky in this one, causing me to miss much of the action, etc. I was also not a fan of that death (those of you who have seen this will know what I am talking about). I saw what happened and why, it’s just so sad for me, and so unnecessary, though I knew what she was doing. It was still a shocker. I do, of course, love the consistency of these movies, and to see the right actors/actresses reprise their roles, and the events of the past remembered correctly, that’s something I appreciate. It’s the small things, you know? Jason Bourne gave us another strong female lead with Alicia Vikander helming the role of Heather Lee, though I did find Vikander to be a little stiff, and not just because her character is. I think she was a little off here and out of place, though her character is one of interest. Vincent Cassel is our dangerous Asset, the villain on the ground here, and naturally he nails the role, he is so comfortable as the bad guy. Anyway, while Jason Bourne is not as brilliant as the original trilogy, it is a worthy addition to the franchise and one I will be adding to my collection. It ticks all the boxes for what you want from a Bourne film, and doesn’t stray too far from the formula, but at the same time stays away from being stale and boring. This movie gets more hate than it deserves.

While I know the car chase is considered cliché and all that, I still had a ton of fun with it!

Review: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

“Whatever happens tomorrow you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man.”
– Abraham Erskine

SYNOPSIS: Steve Rogers, a rejected military soldier transforms into Captain America after taking a dose of a “Super-Soldier serum”. But being Captain America comes at a price as he attempts to take down a war monger and a terrorist organization. – via IMDB

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this film. When it came everyone was like uhming and ahing and I was like what the hell, let’s see, and then I had a total blast. They completely reinvented Captain America. He was not boring, he was cool and he was someone to root for. Luke made a fantastic observation when he reviewed this saying it was a good set period piece, and I cannot disagree, it was good!

The costume design was fantastic and so was Chris Evans, especially when he donned the pretty strange outfit… it ultimately just came together and worked well. As much as when this first came around I could only think the Human Torch, Evans was perfectly cast. I loved the music and the cinematography… this film was just fun. It looked great, the colouring of it, and I enjoyed the pace of it and the story line. The cast worked well together. Yes, there were some questionable CGI effects at times, but nothing that is a deal breaker. This movie came together well in so many ways. It impressed me. Of the pre-Avengers movies, I must say that Marvel nailed this one as well as the initial two Iron Man movies (no, I am still not a fan of the third).

Captain America: The First Avenger was one of the best introductory films I have ever seen for a superhero and definitely my favourite, and I loved how they focused on the war, being a hero and not someone’s pet and all that. I would highly recommend that you check this out if you have not done so already, it just worked on so many levels.