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![The Bourne Trilogy [DVD]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81BqrUTS7mL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
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Yeah, I know it's been a while since these came out. It's even been a while since I bought the trilogy on a previous special. But since I intend to see the new Jason Bourne film, I'm here revisiting these. In the interest of space, I'll just comment generally on the whole trilogy.
Pros: obviously responsible for bringing back the sense of high stakes for an individual human being who has knowledge that could be dangerous for other human beings... and for the corrupt power brokers who were responsible for his role in the first place. Famously directed and filmed in gritty-realistic "documentary style" by indie leaders Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass, spread across a number of evocative European locations, and featuring some of the most hardcore, brutal-looking fight choreography I've ever seen.
Particular standouts, to me:
1. Clive Owen's professorial assassin who goes after Bourne with all alacrity... and then his very mournful, very human acknowledgement that he was doing a job, and had become something he regretted, as he dies at the end.
2. Bourne "interrogating" Nicky about his "first job" in Berlin, with a gun to her head. The flashbacks, the look of pure disgust with himself as Nicky sobs, Julia Stiles very convincingly portraying a woman who's sure she's seconds from death. Fine, FINE work from Damon and Stiles, IMO the moral center of the second film.
3. In all three films, very creative approaches to how Bourne solves problems in action. The fact that he creates chaos and then very calmly and methodically takes advantage of it in smart ways, like ripping an evacuation plan off the embassy wall and following it in the first film, or the very simple purchase of a pre-paid cel phone that he palms into the reporter's pocket in the second film. Less wiz-bang gadgetry, more tradecraft. Love that.
4. Chris Cooper in bulldog mode in the first film. I do NOT want this guy angry with me.
Cons: If the Bond franchise generally shows England at its jingoistic worst, the Bourne franchise gives us a CIA that is essentially rogue all the way to the top, deliberately, assassinating U.S. citizens, disappearing millions in seed money to PRIVATE (of course!) Russian oil interests who are about to be exposed by Russian POLITICIANS—because, you know, Russian politicians are noted for being honest brokers of truth and justice. Joan Allen's Pamela Landy saying "I didn't sign up for this. What they did to you. This isn't who we are" is eyeroll-worthy. That sort of sentiment—noble though it is—is far too naïve for a deputy director of anything in the CIA. Bourne falling madly in love with Marie, a flighty woman with no visible means of support, no ability to plan for a future, and no recognition of the reality that the hunt for them will never be over until Bourne ends it (by whatever means). Hinting at a previous relationship between Nicky and David Webb (Bourne's real name) solely for the purpose of motivating Nicky's help... then doing nothing more with it (because it would spoil the idolization of the dead Marie). Treating Nicky, who is competent enough to manage logistics for all the Treadstone agents and who risks her life trying to help fight Daesh, as just another girl to disguise and send off. Weirdly sexist, and worse, a near-unforgivable underutilization of Julia Stiles.
Gosh, those cons sound harsh. But they sure haven't stopped me from watching this trilogy many, many times. Did I mention Matt Darmon's uncanny ability to look physically ill every time he kills someone? Did I mention the emphasis on tradecraft? Did I mention rooting for Nicky to do more?
Highly, highly recommended.
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Reviews with images
GEMEINSCHAFT BANK, ZURICH 000-7-17-12-0-14-26
As action movies go, for the time being the Bourne Trilogy films are still three of the best made. Now, with the blu-ray edition, I see and hear things I missed in the theater. Matt Damon, with his half threatening, half little-boy lost persona as Bourne was excellent. Add to that, great direction, inventive camera work, interesting locations and John Powell's superb soundtrack(s) and it all heightens the fast-paced exploits of Jason Bourne. Don't forget to fasten your seatbelt, you're in for a bumpy ride! Recommended
