Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a couple of conflicting reviews of the upcoming super sequel THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. My understanding is that at this test screening they had two theaters with a different ending in each. Who knows which one they end up going with or what the different endings are? Here's the first and more negative review. I gotta positive one for you folks after this one.
Harry:
Last night, tons of people (including yours truly) saw THE BOURNE SUPREMACY at Century 16 Theater in Ventura, CA. I figured I would write up a short, spoiler free review for you:
Not as good as the first! I thought the first was a fairly entertaining, clever-enough thriller with some SWEET ASS action (shotguns in a field? yes!). This one is like, um... BOURNE IDENTITY crossed with U.S. MARSHALLS, but maybe not as good as that would sound.
A bunch of predictable stuff happens as a room full of cliched CIA Agents are trying to catch Bourne, whos been FRAMED!!! Some of the stuff that comes out of these agents mouths, holy cow, my friends and I were laughing out loud... The main female, in particular, delivers bad readings of horrible lines. I was waiting for her to yell out "I want a map of EVERYTHING, and I want it TEN MINUTES ago!"
The action fails as bad as the drama. Actually, it seems like the action is pretty good, but you cant tell because the cameras are so damn shaky. My friend thought that the main mano y mano fight was the worst he had ever seen. I wouldnt go that far, but I was frustrated by the fact that I couldnt tell what was going on. It was nice and brutal but I couldnt tell who was kicking who. Anyhoo, unclear action that fails to ever live up some of the sweetness of the first movie.
The end sucks, its real abrupt and trite. Ties all the loose ends up nicely. I dont think they are planning on a third. All in all, not a good movie. For an action movie, there isnt much action. For a drama, its either understated or over-the-top, never balanced or believable. For a suspense, well, it just isnt suspenseful.
I wil say that Matt Damon is really darn good, intense and dark. But the movie around him is a cliched stinker. His performance, some nice cinematography, and occasionally some sweet music are the only things worth seeing in this movie.
The questionaire they passed out focused on the pacing and ending of the movie. The audience erupted into cheers and clap-claps at the end of the movie so I doubt anything will be changed.
Only other thing of note was that I overheard a studio-type say he was working on the movies "Doom, Spy Hunter, and Fast & The Furious 3", but I'm pretty sure this is old news.
Call me - THE GROUND BENEATH YOUR FEET!!!
Now for the more positive view. Maybe this guy saw the other ending? He seems to have gone into the film with a different opinion of the original film, so that could very well be a blueprint to the reaction of this sequel. We'll see.
Heyhey Harry,
Today through the wonders of movie magic (and by that I mean the magic of knowing the right people), I ended up at a benefit showing for the IPPNW (International Physicians for the Provention of Nuclear Weapons). Oddly enough, this group, which does non-violence work and abolition of WMD crusading across the globe, was holding the fundraiser at the Boston Common multiplex, where they were showing a VERY violent film. Violence for non-violence? Sure.
Enter Matt Damon and the Bourne Supremacy.
Literally. Matt walked in, said a few words about the film not being finished (sound dubbing near the beginning, color correction still not done on some spots, but the real score), and then ran the film.
So let's cut all the crap and get to the good stuff. Cause there's a lot of it.
I didn't really like the Bourne Identity. Saw it on DVD, which might be the reason. Action doesn't translate so well. The Bourne Supremacy is by leaps and bounds a better film, but it is forced into using the first film (basically, the setup) as a crutch fdor the first act. The Bourne Supremacy is one of those films that seems like a natural evolution of the first film. That is not to say it doesn't build it's own interesting twists, but this movie is nearly nothing without the first one in tow. With almost no recap given, it's nearly a necessity that people see The Bourne Identity before they see Supremacy. But since it's one of the best selling rentals ever, I figure we'll assume everyone has seen the first one and get down to the movie.
The plot is well contructed, honed around a few very beautiful (yes, beautiful) scenes, all involving character leaps for the once-one-dimensional Jason Bourne, as he goes all "Man on Fire" on the CIA. Fortunately, however, Matt Damon is an impressive actor, capable of Tom Riply style inner torture, so instead of coming off with the steely calm of Denzel Washington's "Man on Fire" or the "please-oh-please won't you believe I'm tortured" gravelly voice sad face of Thomas Jane's "Punisher", he transcends his genre's limitations. Like Uma Thurman's Bride, Jason Bourne is a man who is living a movie, but is just a man, and full of deep sadness. Thus, the plot makes Bourne come face to face with his own sadness, instead of allowing him to keep running from it, as in "Identity".
However, often the film feels like it is trading in on a great performance and a couple of brilliant character scenes (Julia Stiles, who I usually hate, pulls a great scene with Damon midway through), and is filling the rest of the movie with... well... filler. As much as I love Joan Allen, she's miserably boring in this film. Brian Cox is the only thing that makes her interesting, and he's Brian FUCKING Cox! Joan! Play a character! Any character! Just don't act so... boring.
Paul Greengrass does an excellent job taking over the franchise. he pushes Oliver Wood's cinematography to a new level, encorperating much of the previously mentioned "Man on Fire"'s sense of color and motion, without being as overly gimicky as Tony Scott's revenge flick became. It's an excellent middle ground, and beautifully shot. He makes an overly long car chase sequence work, and makes an incredible fight between Bourne and his German counterpart all the more brutal. And his final character moments with Bourne, in which we can really get up and see the man, are shot with a voyeuristic intensity that made me get goosebumps.
Which is not to say the whole movie gave me goosbumps. Just that scene.
Overall, very good film. Better that the first, but not like Spider-man 2 to Spider-man. Not quite that improvement, but still. Enough to make Matt Damon want to sign up for a third one.
If you run this and deem me "not a plant" (which I'm not), call me...
Spider Jerusalem
