Okay, well Bette wanted to see them. After seeing the previews I wasn't all that excited to see them. I knew the basic plots of the movies, or at least the story setups. Bourne is classic Cold War cloak and dagger pot boilers. I've never read the books, after seeing the first movie that will be something I need to remedy. Yes, I know the movies don't track to the books, but there that spark I can see, the burnt carpet that shows the ignition point that was the books.
So after viewing the first one, The Bourne Identity, we now own all three. If you like good stories, somewhat realistic stories, just watch the first one. If you're looking for big explosions and high drama, the Supremecy and Ultimatum will be more in line. Frankly, I like the first one most. Sure, the "action" isn't as big, the explosions not as explody, but there were fewer times when I made snarky comments. Like where did Jason get all that tech to read cell sim chips, international license plates, etc. What, is there a Spies R Us store with branches across the world. Two, even given the Cold War Black Ops paranoia that pervaded the first movie which came out in the portrayal of the Treadstone Assassins, there were very few plot coupons or stock happenings. One person who lost his memory, but not his kinetic memory (plausible with the training he supposedly received) versus someone trying to save their job.
Over all I liked the Identity the most out of the tree. To be fair, I liked the end graphics the most on Supremecy. But then I hated how they cleaned up the song by Moby in Ultimatum. I also wasn't fond of the overlap they portrayed in both and then tried to add to the Identity movie. Really, no need for it. At least some of the field craft stuff in all the movies was done well. No Q Branch high wizardry, no pithy remarks, no suddenly appearing tuxedoes. The high tech command rooms and notifications were also nicely subdued.
But for my money Identity is the better, the most believable, of the movies.
6 comments:
Ah, coincidence. We just watched Ultimatum the other evening.
My better half and I argued for ten minutes whether it was the second or third movie, and ten minutes later it seemed like it didn't matter much since the two felt like the same movie anyway.
And I think I saw Identity, but might be thinking of some other Matt Damon action flick.
I've read The Bourne Identity, I think I was still in High School. It's very good. Long, but well worth it.
I have not seen the current film version. My mind being poisoned by some really bad TV mini-series in the eighties or something.
On your recommendation, I could be up to seeing the Matt Damon version.
Todd, yeah, those two could be run together (with adjustments for the overlap) and most people wouldn't notice the difference of where one story ended and the other began.
Ken, I really recommend Identity. I know it doesn't track to the books (but hey, there's this little thing of the Cold War with Russian being mostly over, or ate least changed in focus, so the story needed to change as well). I really need to read the books now. Like I said, the spark of the original shines through, the books must have been really good.
The thing that pulled me into the movies what when Bourne is in Switzerland going after the bank account and is sleeping in the park. Two local police come up and start pushing him to move on. One swings his club to hit Bourne and he catches it. Damon does an interesting thing with his body at that moment, it sent chills up my spine because I've seen that before. It's the look of having worked through the targets and the targets just haven't realized it, that click of cognizance. It's that moment where, if I were the cops and saw him do that, I'd take a few steps back.
Identity is one of my favorite movies. I like the second one, too. Especially the opening sequences in ... India? Wasn't it India? Anyway, the third one was a let down for me. It was okay, but not as good as the first two.
Ha! Told you so.
Personally, I like how the series ended - they resisted the Mel Gibson/Lethal Weapon cliche.
I enjoyed the hell out of all three.
Matt, yep, that was India.
Jim, yeah, I do like how they avoided most cliches.
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