Jason Bourne

Jason Bourne follows the same pattern and delivers the same action/espionage thrills that we have come to expect from Matt Damon Bourne movies.  I contend that the first two Bourne films had convincing plots, while the third film and this (the fourth starring Damon as Bourne) have plots that seem to primarily exist to give Bourne another movie.  That's a minor complaint though, since Bourne is an intriguing character, Damon plays him so well, and the director Paul Greengrass certainly knows his craft.  From a technical standpoint this film is extremely impressive, the choreography of the mob scene and the editing is spot-on.  Sometimes Greengrass' proclivity for using handheld cameras is distracting, but when the action gets intense he makes us feel that we're right there in the middle of it all.  I think that casting Vincent Cassel as the antagonist is always a good idea, although seeing him in another movie up against Damon where he will not be allowed to succeed (as in the Ocean's movies) is somewhat frustrating.  I wonder if Matt Damon would consider playing a similar character to Cassel's in French movies.
  
My wife Jess commented that the ending of this film seems to be setting up another movie, and I tend to agree with her.  I hope that the producers of this series can find a way to give Bourne some peace, because up to this point his life has been extremely tragic.

Suicide Squad

So I’m going to work my way backwards from my most recently viewed yet unreviewed movie.

Suicide Squad is a mess, but did anyone really doubt that it would be.   When people attack comic books as juvenile, they could easily point to the plot (and I use that term hesitantly) of Suicide Squad and unequivocally win their argument.  Each and every character is motivated by a strong commitment to cliché.  Suicide Squad follows the current trend of comic book movies by inexplicably using CGI to detach the audience from the antagonist.  Perhaps the makers of these movies are concerned that they might hurt the main characters, so they give them ridiculous cartoons instead of formidable foes.  Or maybe the Animation Union hired the Russian mafia to strong-arm their way into all comic book movies.  Or perhaps it’s just another indication of our country’s cultural decline.

You may be surprised to find that overall I enjoyed the movie.  I’ve become so accustomed disappointment in non-Nolan comic book movies that even the briefest well-made scenes make me happy.  Suicide Squad has quite a few well-made scenes interspersed throughout, just enough to make the whole movie seem alright.  Will Smith as Deadshot was quite funny, Killer Croc had some pretty cool makeup, Batman underwater, and colorful clothing dissolving in acid.  I will close by saying that Joker is the Joker we deserve right now.  Somehow he seems to fit in with today’s political climate.  I am a little concerned with what it will take to entertain us with the next iteration of Joker – perhaps it’ll come full circle and we’ll get Cesar Romero again.

Biting the Bullet

I will soon write about The Good Dinosaur, The B.F.G, Tarzan, The Jungle Book, Jason Bourne, and Suicide Squad, but please allow me a brief detour into politics:

A few years ago I was extremely critical of a couple I know who voted for the Constitution Party presidential candidate.  During that election there were two, and only two candidates who could realistically win the general election.  If given the choice of only two candidates you choose neither, you have at best wasted your vote – more likely you have made the path easier for the candidate whom you should have opposed.  I believe that it is reasonable to suggest that two votes for the Constitution Party candidate in 2008 were essentially two votes for Barack Obama.

This year the conundrum is worse, both candidates are so repugnant that it seems unthinkable to vote for either.  At the risk of coming across as flippant, “rending unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” back when there was a Caesar seems a whole lot easier than performing one’s civic duty of voting in America today.  If you are planning on voting for someone other than Clinton or Trump this November, you are only doing so to appease yourself.  Your vote will be meaningless.   Let me suggest that those who refuse to choose when confronted with the lesser of two evils are actually responsible when the greater evil wins.

Neither candidate believes in the sanctity of human life.

Neither candidate believes that our country’s greatness is irrevocably tied to God’s grace.

Neither candidate respects our country’s Constitution.

Neither candidate is wise, humble, brave, respectful, or has a heart of service.

So don’t try spreading any lies about why you’re voting for one or the other – neither of these people deserve to be the President, and either one will be detrimental to this country.

 

And don’t lie to yourself and vote for the Constitution Party candidate – you might as well write-in “Kanye”.

I for one will begrudgingly vote for Trump, he represents the lesser of two evils.

This country is in God’s hands.  His will isn’t constrained whether Clinton or Trump is the President.  I for one will be on my knees asking that the plans of the wicked are thwarted.  I do believe that God can change hearts; Clinton and Trump are just as savable as I.  I also believe that God could miraculously influence the election; He has blessed us for the last 240 years, why stop now?  That being said, I fully anticipate Election Day to be a somber experience, and I pray that God has mercy on us. 

Batman V Superman

Zack Snyder pissed me off with his outrageous fight scene between Superman and General Zod in Man of Steel.  In that movie, Superman allows General Zod to wreak havoc on Metropolis; thousands die because of Superman’s self-imposed do not kill rule.  I’m usually a big fan of these kind of rules in fiction, whether it be D'Artagnan’s honor, MacGyver’s no gun code, or Dennis Hopper’s 50 mph policy… these all present challenges which make the stories more interesting.  But in Superman’s case, his unwillingness to kill General Zod makes him a hypocrite at best, and quite possibly an accessory to mass genocide.

Bruce Wayne is pissed too.  Therein lies the motivation behind Batman V Superman, it doesn’t matter who you are; you don’t want to piss of Bruce Wayne or (spoiler alert!) you’ll have Batman to contend with.  The opening scenes of Batman V Superman show Bruce Wayne helplessly witnessing the destruction that is being rained down on Metropolis by Superman and General Zod, from that point on it becomes his mission to eliminate Superman.  On the other hand, as we spend time with Superman it becomes clear that he is offended by Batman’s vigilante brand of justice.  Superman’s holier-than-thou attitude is our first indication that Zack Snyder has chosen sides.  This is an interesting premise; two men with contradicting philosophies cannot be good neighbors, there’s only room for one hero in the Twin Cities of Metropolis and Gotham.

Had Zack Snyder tightened his focus, this could have been a great movie; but for better or worse Lex Luthor is added to the mix – he’s either the catalyst or the third wheel, depending on your point of view.  I personally found Jesse Eisenberg’s performance as Luthor to be distracting and unnecessary.  While his character fit into the plot as an instigator, someone who was stirring up the feud between Batman and Superman, his motivation for doing this was never satisfactorily explained.  Additionally, Eisenberg’s performance was heavily reminiscent of Heath Ledger as the Joker; his psychotic behavior seemed out of place.  I realize that all of these characters and plot lines are being pulled from a variety of source material.  If you try to make everyone happy, you’re bound to fail.  But I would contend that making a great film, telling a good story, and presenting convincing characters will always trump trying to make fan-boys happy.  I wish someone would tell that to Zack Snyder.

Overall I found this to be a much better movie that Man of Steel, and I can sum it up with two sentences:

Batman hated the end of Man of Steel just as much as I did.

Man of Steel lowered my expectations so low that Snyder’s next film had to be better.

Bridge of Spies

Bridge of Spies is the best film from the past year.  I would like to personally apologize to Steven Spielberg for not going to see this film in the theater, I finally saw it streaming a few weeks back.  Spielberg tells a good story, a story that is relevant today.  Tom Hanks plays a man who defies our preconceived notions of lawyers, principled, thoughtful and patriotic.  The standout performance is by Mark Rylance as a captured Russian spy; his subtlety and the relationship developed onscreen between him and the Hanks character was excellent.

*Full disclosure:  I just saw Mark Rylance win (deservedly so) for Best Supporting Actor.

Room and Spotlight

I’m in a little bit of a rush, because the Academy Awards have already started, and I want to have reviews in on all the Best Picture nominees before the winner is announced.  So I am going to tell you why I liked each of these two films:

The makers of Room believe that hope and healing are possible after even the most traumatic of conditions and experiences.  It also has a policewoman who does some excellent police work, a boy who is extremely brave, and a young woman who definitely deserves a Mother’s Day card this year (and next).

The makers of Spotlight believe in the pursuit of truth.  I think that truth and the pursuit of truth can be two completely different things.  This movie focuses and glorifies the pursuit of truth; journalists are portrayed as society’s heroes.  While the filmmakers could easily have gone too far and ventured into preachy cliché territory; I was pleasantly surprised that the film stayed grounded.  

Brooklyn The Big Short

Halfway through Brooklyn Jess asked me why it had been nominated for Best Picture.  We had gone to see The Big Short the night before, and the same question could be asked of that film.  Both films are entertaining, and both have been expertly made, but neither of them are The Godfather Part II or Braveheart.  That being said, I would suggest that films that achieve the level of greatness are few and far between.  I’ll review Brooklyn and The Big Short for what they are, not what they aren’t.

I lied.  Brooklyn is exactly like The Godfather Part II except that it doesn’t have any gangsters.

The Big Short is essentially a remake of Braveheart except that the main characters don’t wear kilts.

I hope that you realize that I am exaggerating; yet please bear with me while I expand upon my comparisons…  Brooklyn is about the immigrant experience, specifically about a young Irish girl’s experience in Brooklyn, New York circa 1952.  The Godfather Part II is also about a young immigrant who is both a product of and a manipulator of this land of opportunity.   While Brooklyn is exactly one horse head short of being The Godfather Part II, it’s still a pretty decent film.

The Big Short is about underdogs who take on the Big Bad Banks, and as everyone knows underdogs are always good, and banks of any kind (except the Bailey Savings and Loan) are unabashedly evil.  I have exactly two problems with this movie; the first being that it has no purpose for existing.  Nothing new is revealed, nothing is very interesting.  We all know that the banks totally screwed us over, then we bailed them out, and now they’re doing t again.  Sure it’s more complicated than that, but my summary is pretty much all you need to know.  The second problem I have is the intention cutting-short editing; cutting a scene short should have a purpose, not be a style.  So I guess The Big Short has little to do with Braveheart, but maybe I kept you reading.

Jeremiah Johnson and The Revenant

There is nothing that appeals to me about being cold, wet, and sleeping on the ground.  If rugged individualism requires this kind of misery, count me out.  While I admire the skill and determination that is necessary to survive in harsh wilderness conditions, I am confounded as to why anyone would choose this life.  Therein lies my problem with the premises of both Jeremiah Johnson (1972) and The Revenant (2015)… what are these guys doing out there in the first place?  Jeremiah Johnson is a disfranchised veteran looking for a clean start, while Hugh Glass (central character in The Revenant) is a scout for a trapping expedition… both of these guys would have avoided much heartbreak and grief if only they would have invested in a good pair of long-johns and some bear repellent.

My inability to identify with the protagonists robs the films of any emotional effectiveness.  There are elements about both films that I genuinely appreciated, but I was constantly aware that “it’s just a movie” and my appreciation became purely technical.  Both films feature excellent cinematography, and the costumes and makeup contribute to the illusion that the characters are actually when and where the filmmakers purport them to be.  Since I just saw The Revenant last night, I will focus on its technical attributes:  The camerawork and choreography is distractingly amazing; the one-shot technique that was employed in last year’s Birdman (by the same director, Alejandro González Iñárritu) is used here with such virtuosity.  There are no constraints on Iñárritu’s camera.  Of course DiCaprio’s performance is exceptional, but its impact is negligible partly because we have come to expect greatness from him, and partly because the story is shallow.  Tom Hardy occupies the juiciest role; let me suggest that an antagonist in such miserable conditions doesn’t seem quite as evil as he would in civilization.

So if you’re looking for a fun time this weekend, go see The Force Awakens again.