Bourne Again

Saw this movie opening weekend. Thought about blogging about it, thought better about it, went back and forth. I have a feeble mind that I can’t make up.

Problem is that this movie’s been festering there. Most summer movies I see, then promptly forget. But not Bourne. Bourne’s stuck around, and for good reason.

It’s a damn fine movie. What summer action flicks are supposed to be.

Let’s break it down.

1. Set-pieces.

Movies are built around set-pieces. Car chases or dance numbers, doesn’t matter, they’re all set-pieces. To quote the wonderful John August, a set-piece is “a scene or sequence with escalated stakes and production values, as appropriate to the genre.”

The Bourne Ultimatum has some beautiful set-pieces.

What makes them great is not only the fact that they’re executed extremely well, but they’re also unique (not in an “I’ve never ever seen this before,” but in an “I’ve never seen this before in a big summer blockbuster.”).

Take the Waterloo train station sequence. In a normal action flick the hero would probably spoof all the surveillance with some techy gizmo, or he’d just go through guns blazing taking out the opposition.

Instead Bourne gets by using observation and wit, only resorting to violence when he has to. It was a fun alternative to what we normally see, and it’s something that helps set Jason Bourne apart from all of the other action superheroes that flood the summer multiplexes every year.

2. An interesting hero.

Jason Bourne is an interesting guy. He’s an assassin who doesn’t want to kill anymore. A man who doesn’t know who he is (or where he came from). It makes for a lot of interesting dynamics floating up there on screen.

Most important though is the fact that Bourne feels like he could be the guy sitting next to you in the theater. He’s the action movie equivalent of the every man. He can’t jump on (and off) of a hovering fighter plane (go go John McClane!). Instead of blasting his way out of every situation he does his best to outwit his opponents. Of course when he’s cornered he’s vicious and fights to win.

Which brings me to my next point.

3. Violence that feels violent.

Too often the action in action movies feels sanitized, glamorized and Hollywoodized. Balletic fight sequences may have their place in the fantastic Chinese kung-fu operas, but it’s refreshing to see a fight scene in which they scrabble for whatever advantage they can get.

I like seeing heroes fight dirty.

If those three points weren’t enough there was this doozy.

Damn that’s cool.