I got the Almodovar box set yesterday. I see some color in my future - unless we choose to watch Matador.

Saw The Bourne Ultimatum last night. It's awesome, although I have to admit there were some plot points I wish had been resolved better, especially if this is the last one. I still don't quite understand the relationship hinted at between Nickie and Bourne.

Polyester + NyQuil = WOOHOO!!

Why-oh-why do I listen to critical reaction?

The Bourne Ultimatum was completely MEH.


There was plenty of fun action, and a goodly amount of spyster intrigue.

But Jason Bourne was a weaksauce character this time out. Damon barely spoke a word. He had no one to play off throughout the entire film (cept for a brief interlude with Nicki, who - it turns out - used to be his gal at one time pre-being-Bourne) .. and so he never seems decisive or pro-active. He's just there, and he's always shown to be competent in sneaking around and fighting and chasing. But he's never moving the story along, never making anything happen, and never offered an opportunity to express his character through dialogue.


The stuff in the movie is re-tread city. David Strathairn is nasty, but his character is - in the end - far too easily fooled by Bourne to have risen to the high post he's got at the CIA. Joan Allen plays the same good-guy-at-the-Agency role she delivered in the last outting.

The series has been weak ever since Bourne recovered from amnesia. There's no hook to the tale. He's simply a rogue spy/assassin looking for revenge. Snore.

Last time he was looking to apologize for his first hit job, and he has to remember the details of that assignment. This time he's close to recovering the memory of how he was indoctrinated into the Treadstone program ... and the payoff for that is ho-and-hum. .


The pacing was fine, the action was good. But the part of Bourne was simply phoned in, virtually non-existent in a film with his name in the title. And - um - there was no "ultimatum" anywhere to be found.

Saw Bourne yesterday. I really enjoyed it. Thought the action was fun and entertaining. Extended chases and fights were amazing.

The story was not as great as the first. When Matt did speak (like only a handful of times or in short phrases) he sounded like he had a cold. Whatever, he was still hot!

The story had holes, but not too many to make me hate it. I wonder:

I didn't see the movie, but:

I think I am going to see The Simpsons and The Bourne Ultimatum tonight.

Daddy Day Camp : 2% on Rottentomatoes.com
:D

Heheheh, I wonder how Rush Hour 3 will fare .... but I'm not going to find out.


I was a big fan of Jackie Chan. Chris Tucker? Not so much.


* * * * *


Here's an example of problems I had with the Bourne sequels. Car chases. Big part of the franchise, right? Always a good car chase in the Bourne films.

But the ones in the sequels with just Jason Bourne in the car are not nearly as good as the one in the original with his new girlfriend along for the joyride.

See, there's no danger for Jason Bourne in a car chase (heck he survives a wreck in Bourne-Three without a scratch that would have killed an entire schoolbus full of kids). But with an unsuspecting girl along, the danger quotient is there. We feel it. She's our surrogate. She's the innocent civilian along for the ride with the uber-trained spy.

The chases with just Bourne alone in the vehicle, while technically superb, were emotionally inferior.


Likewise, the most riveting action in Bourne-Three is when the girl, Nicki, is being hunted by a CIA assassin and Bourne must rescue her. Girl in danger = excitement. Bourne in danger = we don't believe it for a second.



And yeah, the ending of Bourne-Three with him in the water was a nice bookend to the series. But his repeat of the line from the original, "Look what they make us give" came off lame, imo. (It was a ham-handed salute ... plus, um, Matt Damon is no Clive Owens. Sorry, Matt. No.)

I'm thinking it's gonna be an Almodovar kind-of night.