Jason Bourne

Year of Release:  2016
Director:  Paul Greengrass
Screenplay:  Paul Greengrass and Christopher Rouse, based on characters created by Robert Ludlum
Starring:  Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Julia Stiles, Riz Ahmed
Running Time:  123 minutes
Genre:  Thriller, action

Back in 2002, The Bourne Identity, based on the 1980 novel by Robert Ludlum, was hailed as a breath of fresh air for the spy movie genre, which at that point was completely dominated by the increasingly irrelevant and fantastical James Bond films.  Instead this was gritty, pertinent and realistic.  It was followed by The Bourne Supremacy (2004), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and The Bourne Legacy (2012), the odd one out of the series in that the character of Jason Bourne does not appear.

This film, the fifth in the series, and the fourth to feature Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, takes up from the end of The Bourne Ultimatum.  Jason Bourne is living off the grid, making money with illegal fighting, when he is alerted by hacker Nicky Parsons (Stiles) of the existence of files, concerning Bourne's identity and the truth behind his father.  This kicks off a globe trotting quest for the truth, from Athens to Berlin, to London, to Las Vegas, however Bourne is being pursued by CIA Director Robert Dewey (Jones) who wants him dead and the ruthless hired killer, The Asset (Cassel).  Bourne's only help comes from CIA Cyber Ops agent Heather Lee (Vikander).

This is a tense, exciting thriller.  Director Paul Greengrass has a background in current affairs, and television docu-dramas, and that can be seen in his extensive use of fast cutting, and constantly moving, hand-held style of shooting, this can be very distracting in dialogue scenes, but it adds a real intensity and physicality to the film's action scenes.  And this has some of the best action scenes of any film this year.  The chase through an anti-austerity demonstration in Athens is memorable, but a car chase through Las Vegas is fantastic.  A big theme in the film is surveillance, and Greengrass' style does work for that, with the camera zooming and moving back and forth to find the characters in a crowd, does seem at times like it is footage filmed through a spy camera.  However, I would warn you to be careful, if you're prone to headaches or motion sickness.

The film's main problem is the impassivity of Matt Damon as Bourne, never really showing much emotion beyond impatience, it's hard to really care much about him, when he never really seems particularly fazed by anything.  Alicia Vikander is good as the sympathetic agent, but for the most part she doesn't really have much to do.  Tommy Lee Jones is effective though as the avuncular but murderous CIA Director.                  

Matt Damon is Jason Bourne

Captain America: The First Avenger

Year: 2011
Director: Joe Johnston
Screenplay: Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, based on the comic book Capatin America created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Starring: Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper, Neil McDonough, Derek Lake, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones
Running Time: 124 minutes
Genre: Superhero, action, fantasy, war

Summary: In the present day a team of researchers in the Arctic discover a strange craft buried in the ice. Investigating it they discover a circular metal object with a distinctive red, white and blue insignia.
New York, 1942: Steven Rogers (Evans) is a frail, sickly young man who is nonetheless desperate to sign up for the Army and fight in World War II, like his friend Bucky Barnes (Stan). Unable to back away from a fight, which results in him frequently being beaten up, Rogers persists on trying to join up, even though he constantly fails the medical. His perserverance and strong code of honour attracts the attention of Doctor Abraham Erskine (Tucci) who allows Steven to join up as part of an experiment run by the US Military's Special Scientific Reserve to create a "super soldier". The operation is being run by Colonel Chester Phillips (Jones) and British agent Peggy Carter (Atwell). Steven's bravery marks him out as the right person for the procedure, which consists of him being injected with a special serum and doused with "vita-rays". The experiment leaves Steven with superhuman strength, agility and speed.
Steven becomes a public hero after catching a murderous spy. As a publicity stunt for the war effort, Steven is sent to tour the US in the guise of costumed super-patriot "Captain America". The Captain America character is an instant hit and he soon becomes the star of movies and comic-books.
However, Steven Rogers was not the first person to try the "super-soldier serum". Johann Schmidt (Weaving), head of the sinister HYDRA organisation, underwent an imperfect, experimental version of the serum and suffered horrific side-effects which earned him the sobriquet of "Red Skull". Schmidt is searching for a mysterious tesseracht which is rumoured to contain vast supernatural powers.
Soon Steven Rogers is forced to become Captain America for real in order to save the world.

Opinions: This is an entertaining blend of superhero action and war movie. The World War II setting not only works for the character, who was originally created in 1941 and usually pitted against the Axis powers of World War II, but helps to set it apart from many of the current superhero movies. The film really goes back to basics with a storyline which harkens back to the early days of comic books and their roots in pulp fiction, and provides plenty of action.
In many ways this is a companion piece to Thor (2011), Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010) and The Incredible Hulk (2008), for example Dominic Cooper plays Howard Stark (father of Iron Man Tony Stark) and the object which the Red Skull seeks in this film references Thor. All the films also feature appearances by Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Fury is scheduled to unite Captain America, Thor, the Hulk and Iron Man in The Avengers which is due for release in May 2012.
The Summer of 2011 has featured so many superhero movies that there is real danger of overkill. However, this one is still worth checking out. The film features some great performances from a very strong cast and the whole thing is played seriously enough to be dramatic while still maintaining a sense of playfulness and humour. It also features some spectacular action scenes.
The film suffers from being fairly predictable, and the contemporary bookends, while understandable from a narrative sense, feel slightly redundant.
By the way, stick around until the end of the closing credits for an additional scene and a trailer for The Avengers.


"Why someone weak? Because a weak man knows the value of strength, the value of power..."
Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) explains his choices in Captain America: The First Avenger




Chris Evans is Captain America: The First Avenger

Natural Born Killers

Year: 1994
Director: Oliver Stone
Screenplay: Oliver Stone, Dave Veloz and Richard Rutowski, from a story by Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey, Jr., Tom Sizemore, Tommy Lee Jones, Rodney Dangerfield
Running Time: 119 minutes, and a 123 minute Director's Cut
Genre: Crime, thriller, action, satire, dark comedy

Opinions: Mickey Knox (Harrelson) and Mallory Knox (Lewis) are a married pair of serial killers who leave a swathe of murder and devastation over the southern USA. They are chased by unbalanced celebrity cop Jack Scagnetti (Sizemore), who has a personal mission against serial killers, and sleazy Australian television personality Wayne Gale (Downey, Jr.), host and producer of popular true-crime show American Maniacs, alongside almost every law enforcement agency in the USA.
While seeking treatment for a rattlesnake bite, Mickey and Mallory are arrested, after a three week crime spree that has left fifty-two people dead. A year later they are in prison, and the warden, Dwight McClusky (Jones), enlists Scagnetti to help transport the two to a mental hospital with the understanding that they will be killed on the way. However, Mickey has plans of his own and agrees to a live TV interview with Gale as tensions in the prison approach boiling point.

Opinions: This film, based loosely on an original screenplay by Quentin Tarantino, was hugely controversial on its orignally release for its arguable glamorising of the violence. The movie utilises almost every cinematic technique in the book, the film stock changes seemingly at random, moves from colour to black-and-white, tinted images, weird camera angles, animation, on-screen captions, stock footage, distorted images, clips from TV shows and movies, a frenzied editing style and weird back-projection. Some scenes detailing Mallory's abusive family life are even shot in the style of an old TV sitcom. This is combined with a frenetic and eclectic soundtrack which blends in everything from classical to country to hard rock.
Woody Harrelson is genuinely terrifying as the charismatic but murderous Mickey, and he gets strong support from Juliette Lewis as the frenzied Mallory, both of whom manage to be genuinely touching in their romantic scenes. Tom Sizemore also works well as the sinister cop on their trail. However both Robert Downey, Jr. and Tommy Lee Jones are completely over the top as the TV journalist and prison warden respectively. Which does largely fit in with Stone's excessive style.
The movie is an attack on the way that the media ostensibly condemns criminals while at the same time glamorising them, which is not a particularly new point, and it's treatment here is not in any way subtle, but is effective.
The film is still shocking and disturbing though more for it's style than for anything really in the content. It has aged surprisingly well, and remains a striking and memorable viewing experience.



Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis pose for the camera in Natural Born Killers