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Summer Movie Review Roundup: Bourne Again!
First off, my Owen Wilson piece is linked today over at what might be the best film discussion site on the web, The House Next Door. The site is run by one of my very favorite critics, Pulitzer Prize finalist Matt Zoller Seitz, and as always, I recommend you check it out often.
I've been soul-crushingly busy lately on other writing work, and haven't been able to post here as much as I'd like. I've got a huge backlog of movie reviews good to go, and I realized that when I post five at once, I'm kind of shooting myself in the foot. And that hurts. Until things calm down a bit, I'll try to post shorter, more frequent entries and reviews. Like this one!
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (B+)
I was a groomsman in my good friend Greg's delightful wedding this summer (check out Greg's very funny blog here, it is updated once a decade). It was a beautiful ceremony in Cape Cod, and I drove up from New York with some friends. On the way, we passed through the quaint, picturesque town of Bourne, Massachusetts. This led to roughly 1,000 "Bourne" jokes, each nearly identical and yet each hilarious in its own special way. As we drove by every building Bourne had to offer, we would take turns saying things like "Boy, The Bourne Savings and Loan? That doesn't sound like a very exciting addition to the franchise!" and "The Bourne Retirement Home? That Matt Damon's pushed this series about as far as it can go!" I have a feeling this is not as funny to read about as it was to experience, but I just thought I'd share.
Anyhoo, unlike those jokes, The Bourne Ultimatum (which really should have been called Bourne Again!) is awesome. The plot basically consists of Jason Bourne trying to piece together who he is while being hunted by government agents. His quest takes him around the globe and eventually leads him to the most frightening, miserable location on Earth -- New York City's Port Authority. Even after all the near-death experiences Bourne had been through up to that point, forcing him to endure Port Authority seemed cruel and unusual punishment to me. But I digress.
Much like Jason Bourne, I remember nothing about the Bourne Identity. I recall thinking Bourne Supremacy kicked all sorts of ass, and this third entry is roughly as good. Matt Damon is typically great, Joan Allen and David Strathairn give two of the most subdued performances in action movie history, and the action sequences -- particularly a jaw-dropping fistfight and anything involving cars -- are spectacular.
One complaint, and it's a fairly large one. Director Paul Greengrass, you've taken the quick-cutting/shakicam thing too far. It adds a thrilling, "you are there" realism to action sequences, certainly. But when a scene consists of Matt Damon enjoying a cappuccino with Julia Stiles, maybe just grab a tripod. For the entire two-hour running time, I felt like I was on a rollercoaster positioned on the edge of a cruise ship in the middle of a hurricane. In fairness, I did see the film in a Cinerama Dome on a ginormous IMAX-esque screen. That may have contributed to the problem. Another factor may be that I had eaten dinner in Tijuana the night before (seriously, but that's a story for another time). Regardless, halfway through this puppy, I was sweating like Lindsay Lohan at an STD clinic.
To prove that it wasn't just me feeling the pain, my date actually left the theater halfway through the show and threw up. I'm not kidding. Roughly half of my dates end in vomiting, so it wasn't a total shock, but I think it's safe to say the filmmakers could have toned down the jostling.
Upchucking aside, this was a terrific and suspenseful action flick that only strained believability once. During the climactic chase, Bourne drives through the streets of Manhattan in a stolen police car. At one point, he races past a Chipotle Mexican restaurant. He does not stop, nor does he even look inside longingly. Come on, guys. Even in the midst of a high-speed, life-threatening pursuit, no man can pass up a delicious Chipotle burrito.
Came here through THND actually, your Wilson article pissed me off until I
loved it, always a sign of a writer to watch. As for Bourne, I saw it in a
regular theater and had to look away at several points, so it's not just an
IMAX thing. Great blog.
Your car made Bourne jokes, mine was more of the "next stop Yarmouth,
Dennis" variety. Then again, I was talking to myself.
Pat,
Thanks for the link. In honor, I have posted today. If nothing else, I
think my entry today has a beautiful picture associated.
PW, I just bought the Bourne Identity on paperback to read on the A train -
good stuff. Off topic: I know that you and some of your readers are in show
biz, so here's a question: Are more TV shows made in LA or NYC? Thanks.
CC,