The moment is here to chat up the “new” Bourne film (which has more than a little bit in common with the old Bourne films) The Bourne Legacy. But in trying to be as thorough as possible in comparing them I re-watched the first Bourne trilogy starring Matt Damon—–not terribly difficult considering TNT or USA shows them at least a couple times a week, right after Shawshank Redemption—–which I actually have not watched since I saw them in theaters. And yet, watching all the movies in a roughly 2-day period really showcased just how similar they all are. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely enjoy the Bourne franchise, but they do tend to follow the same basic blue print.
1st Movie’s Unmemorable Title: The Bourne Identity…Spy on the run from CIA handlers: Jason Bourne…Heavy Problem: Memory loss…Deeper theme: Identity crisis, not so great for a spy either physically or morally…Unfair Reason They’re Trying to Kill Him: a botched hit job that was unsuccessful because he would have had to kill a child…Smart Character Actor CIA Bad Guy: Chris Cooper, who gave a terrific performance as another underhanded spy in the movie Breach…Sympathetic CIA Woman: Julia Stiles’s low level operative, who we later on in the trilogy find out is Bourne’s girlfriend before he lost his memory…Useless Love Interest Who Gets Wrapped Up in Things: Franka Potente, who generates honest heat with Damon in a script-contrived romance…Foreign Assassin Who Later Became a Bigger Star: Clive Owen! who has a memorable scene with Bourne while trying to kill him…Lesser Assassin Killed Earlier in a Brutal Hand-to-Hand Fight: Some blonde douche that breaks into Bourne’s house…Civilian Close to Bourne Who Gets Killed: His maid at his house…Low level CIA Asset Who Gets Killed: The ex-African dictator…Chase Scene: Mini-Coopers through the streets of Paris…Idiot European Cops After Him That Get Beat Up: The French, of course…Hot Shot Indie Director: Doug Liman, the man behind Swingers and Go…End Credits Song: Moby’s “Extreme Ways”
Grade: B…Although I do like this film, I consider it the least successful of the original trio of films. It’s in no way bad, but the action set pieces don’t have quite the same pop, and the depth isn’t quite there either. Also, Damon’s Bourne is a little bit more of a puppy in this film (he’s downright “cute” in some scenes) and I prefer the more ruthless Bourne of the other two films. Unexpected Dramatic moment/Best Scene: Clive Owen’s faithful attempted killing of Bourne in a remote, snowy field, and their subsequent chat. It’s a suspenseful, expertly staged scene that unexpectedly morphs into a fine dramatic moment.
2nd Movie’s Unmemorable Title: The Bourne Supremacy (it’s so generic and random, I routinely mix it and the third film’s title up)…Spy On the Run From CIA Handlers: Jason Bourne, although a bit leaner and moodier…Heavy Problem: The love of his life is killed pretty much right off the bat…Deeper Theme: Reconciling loss with guilt…Unfair Reason They’re Trying to Kill Him: He’s been set up for a murder he didn’t commit…Smart Character Actor CIA Bad Guy: Brian Cox…Sympathetic CIA Woman: Joan Allen…Useless Love Interest That Gets Wrapped Up In Things: Franka Potente again, at least for a little while…Foreign Assassin Who Later Became a Bigger Star: Karl Urban…Lesser Assassin Killed Earlier in a Brutal Hand-to-Hand Fight: Martin Csokas, who gets beaten senseless with a magazine…Civilian Close to Bourne Who Gets Killed: Franka Potente…CIA Asset Who Gets Killed: Future Revenge star Gabriel Mann, as a CIA desk jockey who figures out what Brian Cox is up to and gets killed for his trouble…Chase Scene: A jaw-dropping chase through Moscow…Idiot European Cops After Him That Get Beat Up: Berlin cops this time…Hot Shot Indie Director: United 93’s Paul Greengrass…End Credits Song: Uhhh, Moby’s “Extreme Ways” again, but why?
Grade: A…in my not-so-humble opinion, easily the best of the series, and the second finest popcorn, pure-action film (after Casino Royale) of the last decade. Everything works, from devastating dramatic moments (Marie’s death to anytime Brian Cox opens his mouth), a tight plot, and even tighter action sequences. Greengrass’s direction is in its goldilocks zone this time around (not too much hyper-editing, not too little), and he stages some wow-zer moments like when Bourne (believably) beats a guy’s ass with a newspaper or drives the world’s most battered car through a masterfully staged Moscow car chase. And Damon’s portrayal (angry for revenge, sorrowful for past sins, but never anything but determined) fires on all cylinders from start to finish, you can see the gears turning and the lifetime of being on his toes. Unexpected Dramatic Scene/Best Scene: When Damon confronts a young woman whose parents he had killed and reveals to her “the truth.” It’s a wrenching scene that transcends the action genre to work as real drama. Damon doesn’t overplay it, just tersely explaining what happened, which only makes it more exhilarating as this woman finally finds out the real deal. The Bourne films have always been about “truth” and getting to the bottom of it, and this scene shows you the human drama of why that’s so important.
3rd Movie’s Unmemorable Title: The Bourne Ultimatum…Spy on The Run From CIA Handlers: Jason Bourne…Heavy Problem: Ending the conspiracy so he can have a life…Deeper Theme: When you search for “yourself,” what if you don’t like what you find? What if you really and truly don’t like the person you are deep down? This film is less about finding out who he is than accepting it, less of an identity problem than an ethical one…Unfair Reason They’re Trying to Kill Him: They think he leaked classified info to a journalist…Smart Character Actor CIA Bad Guy: David Straitharn, my personal favorite, as there’s just something so deceptively mild-mannered yet off about this guy that I imagine this how the real person doing this job would look…Sympathetic CIA Woman: Joan Allen and Julia Stiles for a little 1st film meets 2nd film bridge…Useless Love Interest That Gets Wrapped Up In Things: Also Julia Stiles, revealed to be Bourne’s pre-amnesia girlfriend…Foreign Assassin Who Later Became a Bigger Star: Edgar Ramirez, praised for his work in Carlos…Lesser Assassin Who Gets Killed Earlier On in a Brutal Hand-to-Hand Fight: A character called “Desh” that shows up in Morocco…Civilian Close to Bourne Who Gets Killed: A British journalist who triggers the plot of this movie…CIA Asset Who Gets Killed: The actual guy who leaked the info to the journalist, blown up in a car bomb triggering the movie’s Morocco chase…Chase Scene: There’s a thrilling Morocco chase that involves motorcycles, then rooftops, then windows, but the more traditional car chase is for once in the US on the streets of NYC…Idiot Cops After Him That Get Beat Up: A little bit in London…Hot Shot Indie Director: Paul Greengrass again…End Credits Song: Again, Moby’s “Extreme Ways,” thus putting Moby’s kids through college off royalty checks.
Grade: A-…Although not quite as satisfying or perfect as the second installment in the trilogy, this one delivers big time. The main problem is that Greengrass overdoes it with the hyper-editing tricks, pushing the style too far in contrast to the 1st film (Doug Liman’s style is too traditional) and the second (perfect), and it actually makes the movie more deliberately confusing than it ought to be. Plus, it kind-of makes you zone out after a little while, and I found myself having to rewind several times because the editing took me so out of the movie. BUT the actual movie itself is a gem, building on one terrific set piece after another like Bourne talking the journalist through a busy London train station without getting him killed (tense, exciting, weirdly funny, sharp—-an instant classic) and that dazzling suspense-scene morphing into rooftop chase morphing into fight to the death scene in Morocco. Unexpected Dramatic Scene/Best Scene: Bourne finally finds out who he is and what Albert Finney’s scientist asked him to do, revealing his problem to be more psychological than physical. He doesn’t remember because he doesn’t want to remember, although I think the best scene is probably the extended suspense sequence in London or the action set piece in Morocco.
4th Movie’s Unmemorable Title: The Bourne Legacy…Spy on the Run From His CIA Handlers: Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross…Heavy Problem: They’re trying to kill him in an attempt to shut down his whole program and he’s running out of the meds that turn him into a super-soldier…Deeper Theme: Drug addiction. People can’t tell at first or from the trailers, but this is really a film about drug addiction, except with a super-spy desperate to get more of the “meds” that turn him invincible instead of a more conventional (and pathetic) junkie, a nice twist…Unfair Reason They’re Trying to Kill Him: In the wake of the growing scandal about Jason Bourne, they want to erase any trace of the program Cross is a part of, so it’s completely unrelated to him actually…Smart Character Actor CIA Bad Guy: Edward Norton…Useless Love Interest That Gets Wrapped Up In Things: Rachel Weisz’s doctor…[I’ll skip ahead a few in the interest of spoilers]…Chase Scene: In a nice change of pace, they swap out the European locale for Manila, giving a fresh vibe to one of the movie’s only real action sequences…Idiot Cops After Them That Get Beat Up: Manila cops…Hot Shot Indie Director: Okay, so Tony Gilroy has never been an “indie” director, but he did make the critically beloved Michael Clayton, a beautifully realistic thriller with an all-too-plausible conspiracy (and hit men) at the heart of it.
I won’t give this Bourne film a straight up grade (that comes at the end of the year when I’ve had time to think about all the movies) but I will say that fans of the Matt Damon Bourne movies will probably leave disappointed. It’s not a “bad” movie, just a different one than what they’re used to. For starters, it’s not really much of an action movie, with only the motorcycle chase in Manila and a few smaller moments, so the fast-pace of the Greengrass films will be sorely missed by young guys. Also, Renner’s Cross doesn’t have the ruthless, borderline sociopathic edge of Damon’s Bourne (who was showing some serious dark circles around those eyes in the last two movies). He’s a little bit more affable, and humorous…which may not necessarily be a good thing for the Bourne franchise, not to mention the fact that his character’s main interesting trait is that he’s, essentially, a drug addict, so he should be even more edgy and unpredictable than Bourne.
None of this is to say that the Bourne Legacy is a bad movie, just that the traditional customers may think it is, and the film is too similar plot wise (look at all of the above) but perhaps too different stylistically to really satisfy them. So, in other words, I liked it ok, but I doubt many Bourne fans will, and they’ll more likely be impatiently waiting for Damon to step back into the franchise’s leading role.