Saturday Night I went out and saw Bourne Legacy. I liked the Bourne trilogy with Maaatt Daaamon, and generally thought that it was a good concept. Incidentally the book (Bourne Identity since read by me) is set in the Cold War and has a different bent to it. But I digress. Here we have a tag line that reads “Bourne isn’t the only one”. Apparently he’s not the only “program” being run surreptitiously within the government. The story here starts during the second Bourne movie when the reporter gets shot in Waterloo station. Bourne becomes the reason why this other program needs to be shut down for fear of exposure. That would “be bad” as “everybody would go down”. This tangential beginning where you make reference to the other story and then begin this one is distracting.
This new program uses drugs to alter the DNA of the Agents. And it hooks them on these drugs and they become addicts. I hadn’t expected the Bourne movie to become a chemistry experiment where you make them crave product. Turns out though that you can end the dependency with a good flu virus. Who knew?! Edward Norton is here and was not pressed and his abilities were for the most part wasted. He has a good scene with a General, but otherwise very little. Then there’s our new hero (Jeremy Renner) who has a remarkable ability to escape stressful situations. The fight scenes still are all shot far too close and you cannot get a sense of the action. The camera is held a little steadier but could be more so. There is a quality motorcycle scene. Query whether we have pretty much come to end of the limits of motorcycle chases between Bourne and the Bond series. New Bond comes out in the Winter and the preview made it look really good (Skyfall in November).
Overall, I was not pleased to pay to pay the $15.99 for the film with the moving and shaking seats. Honestly I did not notice it, nor the assigned seating either. This was okay, but I would not go and seek it out. Hard to say that it’s a big screen movie. I always like seeing Rachel Weisz and here she plays the role of the scientist for the pharmaceutical company well. There are a couple moments when you are suspending your disbelief by that proverbial thread. I have to let them pass or you start wonder about things like – how do you keep your motorcycle going fast when you release your throttle hand to grab at something? And what do you say about the ultimate fighting weapon who does an amazing Terminator impression up until the point of his ultimate undoing. Without spoiling it, it’s a bit of a surprise. And I was not talking about the hero….
Worthy of a rental. Open ended at the end to allow for more sequels. Not sure really if they are necessary.
I rented The Artist last night and quite honestly I don’t get all the hype. Certainly not the Best Actor award. How do you get an acting award without saying anything? Facial expressions are nice, and true Daniel Day Lewis said very little as Christie Brown in My Left Foot. But this is different. As a speaking Actor, I would be pissed!! It was not memorable. Nor was it the best film of the year. Nothing further really to say on it.
Mondays With Robbie 