Jason Bourne. David Webb. CIA. "Assets." Fighting and chase scenes and action! Welcome to the non-spoiler section, where we discuss Bourne in small detail, before we dive into how awesome he continues to be.
Cody: The fourth Jason Bourne movie was exactly the same as the other three Jason Bourne movies. That is to say it was constant wonderful action and suspense. And yet. Three films may have been our sweet spot. Of course Jason was amazing. Of course the action sequences were as unique and thrilling as they've always been. But how unique can something be the fourth time we're seeing it? Paul Greengrass (writer and director) gave an absolutely valiant effort, and I commend him with a ribbon for trying (this is America after all). I wasn't at all disappointed leaving the theater, but I wasn't stoked either. My first thought was this, "I really just want to go back and watch The Bourne Identity again..." Which, isn't a bad reaction for fans to have if you're the people behind the Bourne franchise. However, I probably shouldn't feel like a better version of the movie I just saw already exists. Do you see where I'm coming from here, Roy?
Roy: I do. This movie was fantastic, Every second was great. In typical Bourne fashion it does not take long for the action to start. We are immersed quickly into this world of intrigue and betrayal at a break-neck pace. This is exactly why we go see Jason Bourne. To get anything less would be massively disappointing. That being said, as this is the fourth Bourne installment, this is the third movie with roughly the same story arc. I say story arc and not plot because each movie has done great at presenting a different plot. But the story arc is exactly the same. Bourne is off the grid hiding from the CIA. Something drags him into the light. The CIA fudges their pants a little when they realize who they are up against... I will avoid saying more because it belongs in the spoiler section, but I think you can all see where I am going from here. Could Greengrass make another successful chapter in this franchise? I have zero doubts. But I'm not sure he should. Cody I don't want to misrepresent this movie to our COARD peeps. You guys should definitely go see this movie. Just don't expect to get anything different than you have gotten three times before.
Cody: The philosophical debate of money/success vs. art has already been decided in Hollywood. And to be honest, most of us are okay with it. As evidenced by the fact that movies like Jason Bourne come out and rush to what is $122 million so far. Because of money, Greengrass will likely head up Jason Bourne: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Wait, Pirates already has that title for their latest movie that doesn't need to exist? Fine. Jason Bourne: Rogue Nation. Seriously?? Goodness. At least they haven't made five Die Hards. OH COME ON! Well jeez. The real debate is which action franchise is going to have their sixth installment first? Mission Impossible seems to be pumping them out lately, so I'm putting my money there. I'm generally okay with franchises that keep ticking along, but Bourne really irked me. The movies and the character are simply more sacred to me. Roy is usually the one claiming to be older and more cultured around here, but allow me to fill his shoes. I liked the Bourne stories from my childhood. I didn't need more than the trilogy. Ultimately, though, it's freaking Jason Bourne. Here's my money. Chalk another one up for money over art. I am part of the problem, and for Jason Bourne, I'm okay with that.
Roy: I too am part of the problem, I was happy to give them my money. Not only that... I have some friends who haven't seen this yet and the odds are good I will pay to see this twice, and I won't consider it a waste. Where does that leave us? It leaves us deep in the clutches of the studio heads of Hollywood, and there is nothing we can do about it.
Cody: Enter Heather Lee, played by Alicia Vikander, this movie's version of the internal CIA woman who thinks there are more to Bourne's motive than meet the eye. Nicky created that role, and now Heather coolly eliminates her via field asset to assert herself. That's not the only place Heather was asserting herself. We also have our token old white guy who kills with ease and has extreme tunnel vision on Bourne's case, played this time around by Tommy Lee Jones and named Who Cares. What's important is that Heather is not taking any of his crap! Unlike previous females in the series, her ambition and intelligence allowed her to overrule Jones' decisions. She had her own agenda, and she played it extremely well. Although, as the movie was closing, after her entire road map had been played out, she still was no match for the wits of Jason Bourne. It was nice to have a female who truly got crap done, but at the end of the day, there's no beating Jason Bourne. These are the laws of the universe.
Roy: The thing was I am still unsure of her motives. Does she really care about our boy? When she told her new boss that she was perfectly willing to have Bourne killed if he didn't play ball, was that just so her boss would let her complete her agenda? Or is she yet one more person in a long line of CIA scumbags who think they are smarter than David Webb? The only thing we know for sure is the look on her face was priceless when she was immediately shown that she was in fact, way, way dumber. Here is the thing. No one can ever outsmart Jason Bourne. The reason for this is he trusts no one. It doesn't matter how much that person just spent the last two hours helping him. He trusted two people, Marie and Nicky. And both of them were killed by lesser versions of Jason Bourne. I do want to bring up one small complaint though. I wanted more hand to hand combat. The car chases were superb. The shooting scenes were fantastic. I only got one great fight scene and it ended in one of the most anti-climactic ways it could. Strangulation.
Cody: The movie arced from Heather starting as the friendly female CIA officer, to ultimately her usurping the old white guy directors who hate Bourne. This was all #GirlPower. We've done four movies of old white guys trying to kill Jason. It's time we let a woman be arrogant and get embarrassed by Jason. It's an amazingly ironic side effect of the feminism trend. Sometimes that lead dude role is not one you want, ladies. Now, she could just as easily be anti death programs and pro Jason Bourne next movie, and at which point I will gladly eat crow. Although, let me ask you this audience, if she truly is Team Bourne, how can the fifth movie be an actual Jason Bourne movie? Exactly. Mull that one over. Before we wrap this up, can I just point out how dark Jason got at the end there? I get he was going for vengeance for his dad, but that last fight scene with the asset was brutal. Almost Game of Thrones level hard to watch. Jason has always been
a cold blooded killer. But MAN is he a cold blooded killer. This is not Captain America we're dealing with here, people. Dude is hardcore. And I'll be there in a couple years when a nearly 50 year old Matt Damon is back to kick butt and make money.
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| To be fair, who wouldn't fudge their pants a little? I need to do a quick shorts check just staring at this picture |
Cody: The philosophical debate of money/success vs. art has already been decided in Hollywood. And to be honest, most of us are okay with it. As evidenced by the fact that movies like Jason Bourne come out and rush to what is $122 million so far. Because of money, Greengrass will likely head up Jason Bourne: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Wait, Pirates already has that title for their latest movie that doesn't need to exist? Fine. Jason Bourne: Rogue Nation. Seriously?? Goodness. At least they haven't made five Die Hards. OH COME ON! Well jeez. The real debate is which action franchise is going to have their sixth installment first? Mission Impossible seems to be pumping them out lately, so I'm putting my money there. I'm generally okay with franchises that keep ticking along, but Bourne really irked me. The movies and the character are simply more sacred to me. Roy is usually the one claiming to be older and more cultured around here, but allow me to fill his shoes. I liked the Bourne stories from my childhood. I didn't need more than the trilogy. Ultimately, though, it's freaking Jason Bourne. Here's my money. Chalk another one up for money over art. I am part of the problem, and for Jason Bourne, I'm okay with that.
Roy: I too am part of the problem, I was happy to give them my money. Not only that... I have some friends who haven't seen this yet and the odds are good I will pay to see this twice, and I won't consider it a waste. Where does that leave us? It leaves us deep in the clutches of the studio heads of Hollywood, and there is nothing we can do about it.
Cut to a dark room filled with computers and hi-tech screens lining the walls. There are CIA hackers behind all of the computers feverishly searching for Roy and Cody. Someone has something... They enhance the picture. Cue the leader saying, "Oh my God... It's the spoiler section."
Roy: Where do I even start? I guess I should start at the beginning. Of course Jason Bourne becomes an underground international boxing champion while living off the grid. What else is he going to do? He tries hard to not kill anyone, but to quote Liam Neeson, "Jason Bourne has a very particular set of skills." Makes sense this is where he would end up. Poor Nicky finds him and doesn't listen to him when he tells her that trying to expose the new iterations of Treadstone will get her killed. So of course she catches a bullet with her skull.. Good night sweet Nicky, we appreciate everything you've done for our boy. We always knew you had to go this way, it doesn't make it any easier to watch when it happens though.
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| "If you tell me what to do, I may murder you. Actually... I'll probably just murder you and take your job anyway" -Heather Lee |
Roy: The thing was I am still unsure of her motives. Does she really care about our boy? When she told her new boss that she was perfectly willing to have Bourne killed if he didn't play ball, was that just so her boss would let her complete her agenda? Or is she yet one more person in a long line of CIA scumbags who think they are smarter than David Webb? The only thing we know for sure is the look on her face was priceless when she was immediately shown that she was in fact, way, way dumber. Here is the thing. No one can ever outsmart Jason Bourne. The reason for this is he trusts no one. It doesn't matter how much that person just spent the last two hours helping him. He trusted two people, Marie and Nicky. And both of them were killed by lesser versions of Jason Bourne. I do want to bring up one small complaint though. I wanted more hand to hand combat. The car chases were superb. The shooting scenes were fantastic. I only got one great fight scene and it ended in one of the most anti-climactic ways it could. Strangulation.
Cody: The movie arced from Heather starting as the friendly female CIA officer, to ultimately her usurping the old white guy directors who hate Bourne. This was all #GirlPower. We've done four movies of old white guys trying to kill Jason. It's time we let a woman be arrogant and get embarrassed by Jason. It's an amazingly ironic side effect of the feminism trend. Sometimes that lead dude role is not one you want, ladies. Now, she could just as easily be anti death programs and pro Jason Bourne next movie, and at which point I will gladly eat crow. Although, let me ask you this audience, if she truly is Team Bourne, how can the fifth movie be an actual Jason Bourne movie? Exactly. Mull that one over. Before we wrap this up, can I just point out how dark Jason got at the end there? I get he was going for vengeance for his dad, but that last fight scene with the asset was brutal. Almost Game of Thrones level hard to watch. Jason has always been
a cold blooded killer. But MAN is he a cold blooded killer. This is not Captain America we're dealing with here, people. Dude is hardcore. And I'll be there in a couple years when a nearly 50 year old Matt Damon is back to kick butt and make money.
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