The Bourne Trilogy (2002 – 2007) March 24, 2008
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackback
The Bourne series of films has seen international success and reached its climax (in story arc, at least) last year with a third instalment that was, impressively, better received than its previous two. And it isn’t as if people had exactly hated them so far. Bourne is just one of those unstoppable franchises, seemingly able to double its budget in box office, regardless of what they spend on it (Ultimatum’s $110 million budget brought back $227 million in return). Plus, and for once, what has been good for the studio execs has also been good for the audience, generating increasingly better movies rather than the sub-standard, rushed-out sequels desperate to strike while the iron is hot.
Now I don’t dislike spy movies, and I’m not against realism in the way that is presented by Bourne, but I’ve always been an outsider to this particular phenomenon, constantly looking in, wondering what all the fuss is about. My first viewing of Identity left me cold: What is everybody getting so excited about? Haven’t we seen all this before? By the time the opportunity to see Supremacy came along, I was disinterested and ended up watching it in that worst of film-viewing venues: an aircraft. I fell asleep too - but not before deciding that my opinion hadn’t changed. So you can imagine my surprise during 2007 when I found myself itching to see The Bourne Ultimatum, a movie that I had no right being excited about. It was getting such rave reviews and, later, appeared on so many ‘best of 2007′ lists, that I decided to put aside my agnostic feelings in favour of discovering the truth for myself.
In February, the opportunity to catch the third instalment in its natural habitat presented itself by way of some pre-Bafta cinema screenings, so I headed off with an open mind to find out if the emperor really did have clothes. But not before re-watching the two films that left me so underwhelmed in the first place.
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Directed by: Doug Liman
Set in various locations around Europe, the character from Robert Ludlum’s popular novels comes to the screen as a confused but dangerous man, played by Matt Damon. Plucked out of the sea by fishermen, he can scarcely remember a thing, not least how he got there. What follows is a chase story, in which Jason Bourne (one of his many identities) sets out to discover who he is and what he did, while a secret arm of the CIA under the name ‘Treadstone’ tracks him across countries both themselves, and with the aide of their highly-skilled hit-men. Along the way, he crosses paths with Marie (Franka Potente) and the two go on the run together, looking for answers.
With the heavy Paul Greengrass focus that occupied the two sequels, it is hard to remember that it was in fact Doug Liman (Swingers, Go) who directed the first part of this trilogy. He does so quite steadily, and with clear cut decisiveness about camera placement. There are no particularly flashy filmmaking techniques, but it certainly takes the spy movie back to its origins in terms of keeping the chase tight and making sure that there are enough questions that need answering throughout the movie. I do think it lacks energy at times, and though it might be one thing to argue for ‘realism’ in your spy movies, I’d like to counter-argue for excitement as a reason one might want to see a film such as this. The constant breaks and Jason / Marie conversational scenes are nice, but don’t add much once we ditch Marie in the third act to focus entirely on Bourne.
The conclusion too, poses itself as a problem. Even on this re-watch, when I’m fully aware that sequels already exist, it still stands out as being anti-climatic in a way that it didn’t need to be. I find it hard to believe that anyone was satisfied by an ending that probed only toe-deep into the origins of a character who was all about finding his origins. Still, Matt Damon is suitably anti-action star to fit the role of Bourne neatly, and the rest of the cast including Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Brian Cox and Clive Owen - who I totally forgot was even in this - do a fine job of keeping the standard up. It still doesn’t sit well with me though, so I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Picking up two years after the events of Identity, this popular sequel received its fair share of both praise and criticism, namely directed towards new-coming director Paul Greengrass. The story opens with Bourne and Marie living out their lives in hiding. When a sudden unprovoked attempt made on Bourne’s life ends tragically, however, the ex-super spy makes good on his promise to hunt down the members of Treadstone if they ever came after him. Once again, Bourne searches for the truth behind the CIA’s reignited interest in him, and even though Treadstone no longer exists in an official capacity, some of its members apparently have unfinished business to resolve.
The story retains most of the staple elements from the first outing, although it picks up the pace a little, both in narrative and editing. Greengrass was notoriously criticised for the ’shaky camera’ that plagues this movie in its most intense moments, with audiences complaining that they couldn’t make out what was happening. In the four years since this film was released we’ve seen a gradual increase in handheld cameras as a popular style of filmmaking - you only need to look at Michael Mann’s Collateral [review], Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men [review], or the most extreme recent case, Cloverfield, to see how accepting we’ve become of the ’shaky cam’. In 2008, the film seems nothing like the motion-sickness inducing rollercoaster ride it was made out to be, and the editing was positively comprehensible compared to something like AvP - Requiem [review].
So if time has healed the film’s most derided aspect, what is left to say? Well, one thing Greengrass does bring to the project is a sense of the frenetic, and the action sequences this time around are suitably more intense. It still finds the time to slow down, but less so than in Identity. Also, Julia Stiles reappears to play a slightly bigger part this time around, although she still seems underused and underdeveloped - merely a character through-line to link the films together, along with Brian Cox. What we do get is a little more background to Bourne, although the ‘one mission at a time’ rediscovery of events seems a little tired. It’s better, but still not perfect.
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
The final part of Bourne’s trilogy is where it makes a turn. Between Supremacy and this, Paul Greengrass made one other film: the 9/11 inspired United 93. He was also nominated for an Oscar. So there’s a sense of renewed confidence as the director guides Matt Damon through one last globe-hopping adventure to discover the truth about his past. This time around, Bourne is tracking CIA heads who were involved in the creation of the Treadstone project, including the doctor who initiated his involvement. But he is again being hunted, this time by current deputy director Noah Vosen, while a returning Pam Landy uses her previous knowledge of Bourne to aide the pursuit. Cue car chases, face to face combat, and constantly looking over your shoulder moments aplenty.
The most surprising thing in the Bourne Ultimatum is that without changing director or writer, the film makes a significant change to how it is paced. That’s to say, where the previous entries would let up quite often, Ultimatum keeps the tempo relentlessly high. It barely stops for a second which is exactly what these chase-based stories needed from the outset. Greengrass flips one to the audience by maintaining his much maligned shaky camera experience and while one scene - the chat between Bourne and Marie’s brother in Moscow - features the most intrusive camera movements I’ve ever seen, it becomes gradually easier to watch as the story starts its non-stop sprint to the finish.
Damon knows Bourne inside out by now, while Julia Stiles gets yet another character upgrade and hints that her involvement is far from over. David Strathairn is the standard ‘evil’ CIA operation leader this time while Joan Allen gets to reprise Pam Landy from a slightly different angle. Most interesting is the way this final instalment links itself into Identity and Supremacy, especially in the case of the latter’s end coda turning out to be of great relevance to this film - yes, they changed the season and the details are different, but it’s the effort that impressed me. There are plot holes, quite a few actually, but this is a film that has such exciting pace, such relentless intent, that it sits way above the other action thrillers of last summer.
It may have taken three movies to get there, but Bourne has finally arrived. For the first time I could actually relate to all the enthusiasm handed to these movies - I only hope that Greengrass and Damon can keep a lid on it now, because Ultimatum would be a seriously hard act to follow.
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