It is also affected by the fact that I have not watched any other Bourne movie in its entirety save for snippets of scenes I saw while my father was watching Matt Damon in Bourne Identity on HBO.
I am also not a fan action movies.
I am not a fan of shoot`emup-kill`em-burn`em-to-the-ground macho movies or any other movies which have guns in them - except True Romance, The Wire, Wasabi and other movies (whose titles escape me now) where its action-movie-ness is not the be-all and end-all of the story. But somehow, I failed to watch The Bourne movies. Maybe I just didnt care for Bourne, until now. I heart Matt Damon in The Talented Mr Ripley though.
And these are what I like about The Bourne Legacy:
1 It's shot in the Philippines.
Yey!
And Manila to boot.
Yey! 2x
Why Manila?
Bourne Legacy director Tony Gilroy: "(Manila) is just so colorful and ugly and gritty, raw and stinky and crowded..."
Cheezmiss: Hell, YEAH!
I cant help but feel a thrill climb up my spine as Edward Norton and all these white actors in a Hollywood production spout Philippines here, the-virus-is-in-Manila there, Manila's-just-a-kitchen-where and even refer to Manila as if it was another planet (the exact quote from Rachel Weisz's character was "its on another side of the planet" but we get her character's drift).
What kind of movie-going/ pirated-DVD-watching Filipino wouldnt feel giddy when they see two major Hollywood movie characters lining up at old NAIA and being assessed by OUR Immigration Officers?
Who wouldnt be awed by Jeremy Renner running on the roofs of Manila's shanties and taking advantage of the maze of poorly constructed houses to hide and evade from the Philippine National Police?
If you're not from or havent been in Manila, you probably wont catch my drift.
The PNP chasing a Hollywood actor within the shanties of Manila! Imagine that. (Yes it is difficult to detach from something you personally seem to be a part of)
I wonder, did Ramon Bong Revilla Jr ever think of doing this? or has he done this? (Him being the only action star whose career is currently still alive)?
2 Conspiracy theories galore
Consipracy theory 1: The CIA / US Govt is the God of Big Brother.
Consipracy theory 2: You're better off dead than having the CIA / US Govt on your tail.
Conspiracy theory 3: They could also make meds to "minimize empathy" and `program behavior' through "neural design."
Conspiracy theory 4: You cannot run or hide from their vast intelligence network. They could even acquire the CCTV footage of the Canadian Forestry Department to find you or sift through tons of videos in YouTube just to firewall an information they dont want to be available to the public. Also, if they want you dead, you're as good as already gone. And you won't catch their hand in the cookie jar because they're smooth and suave like that.
Are these all based on something factual? If it is - God help us all.
The scene where the Clinical Psych and her cohort puts the gun in Weisz's hand to help her "commit suicide," echoes news stories about so-called suicides of potential `enemies of the US govt.' Scary.
3 Every character relevant to keep the story moving forward knows English
Those who havent been to the Philippines would get the impression - just from watching the movie - that the country is filled with very articulate English-speaking security guards.
And it may or may not be true.
(If this was a French production, the guards would probably be speaking fluent French the way a Japanese Airport official did in Wasabi)
4 The action scenes
Who would ever think of making a jeep spin in the middle of Edsa??????? or even have the gall, money and machinery to make this possible?
I bow at Hollywood's feet.
5 No gratuitous love scenes
The movie respects us and considers us grown up enough to not immediately expect kissing/slobbering/pumping scenes from the male and female lead.
Any potential romance between the two is suavely made relevant to the story.
6 It did its best given what was available (or not) to them
What would you do if the original Bourne - Matt Damon, the director of the original Bourne movie - Doug Liman, and another director of the previous Bourne - Paul Greengrass all said "NO, NOT ANYMORE" to the studio (the way Aaron Cross wrote the same words - almost - onto a mirror inside the room where he stayed in as an affront to the CIA when it discovered his whereabouts) either due to constant arguing and disagreement with Universal executives ?
So all you are left with is the movie's writer and a demand from the studio to make another Bourne but not the same Bourne yet it should also produce other not-Bourne but Bourne-like sequels?
If you were paid heftily to do this, you do your best to work with what you have or not have and voila! There's The Bourne Legacy.
7 The movie's story reflects our own non-awareness and addiction
So Rachel Weisz's character claims she's only doing what she's doing because she hearts "science" oblivious to the fact that she is helping terminate lives.
And Aaron Cross is there to help her be aware of this fact as well as to save her neck so she could also save his.
Cross is addicted to the exact same meds the CIA helped him to be dependent on.
Rachel Weisz's character needs Cross so she can live.
Sure this movie is about corruption in the CIA and how the entire system is in on it.
And the entire system is helping fuel all these drama.
But hey, maybe there's something in your life you need to be aware of too or you're oblivious to,
or maybe you're dependent on something and need someone to be able to get your fix the way Cross is dependent on the female doc to get his brain fix,
or maybe you think you need someone so you will live - and if not for his/her presence in your life, you'd feel you'll literally die -- No? Good.
And these are what I dont like about The Bourne Legacy:
1 It talks too much
Sure this is supposed to be an `intelligent' action movie but half of the movie explained everything we're supposed to know as if we should be taking down notes. They know we'd be bored so they had to show close tight shots of talking heads to highlight tension. That would only work if this was a powerpoint presentation in a school lecture. But this is a Hollywood movie, right? It's supposed to distract us from boredom not remind us about it.
I could only follow a quarter of what they were saying yet I stayed glued waiting for Manila to come up and/or Jeremy Renner (because he waved at us you see, and we're from Manila).
It is also as if the movie had no choice but to talk for the most part of the film because the whole 2 hrs and 5 min of it was entirely a set-up to kill off the old characters and old storyline to introduce the new ones.
Was it just me or did the movie feel as if it was entirely a lengthy first act and the real action starts on its bigger supposed to be better sequel which we have all been conditioned to wait and expect for?
2 Unreal on some parts
The scene where Rachel Weisz hides inside a shanty only to be screamed at by a horrified local thinking she's a thief doesnt make any sense.
If you find a foreigner - white and a woman to boot - inside your dilapidated home, you'd first think, "Why" but you wont scream in horror.
Your colonial mindset would instantly turn on and see her as a bringer of 1st world money perhaps? Help? Food?
"You want to buy my baby?"
"Sure."
or does she just wants company?
Kool,
"We're Filipinos, we like company. Eat with us. Drink with us. Hell, sing with us even. You need to hide from the cops? We can help you too. We care. Unlike LRX3, we have uber-empathy. We are hospitable too, way too much - even if we dont need to."
3 Other than the amazing jeep-spinning scene, the action scenes on the roads of Manila made me dizzy
I couldnt follow what was going on, too much close-up and shaky camera movement (or maybe I was too near the movie screen).
If I saw the other Bourne movies I'd probably say more, but I didnt so I could only take the movie as it is. But given that it's based on previous Bourne movies, fans of the original simply dislike The Bourne Legacy.
But I am easy to please, and Jeremy Renner waved at me, so I like it.
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