Cast: I like the people in it. Jeremy Renner always strikes me as the first choice to replace another guy (See Mission Impossible and, well, this movie). Rachel Weisz I like even though I can't point to a movie that I love that she's been in and this movie doesn't fill that need. Edward Norton is massively underused in this. He needs to show up in a lot more movies. Overall, this was not a movie that was a draw for me for any specific actor in it. Matt Damon is sorely missed here.
Plot: Overall, the plot's pretty simple but the details are a-plenty. All it is is a search for more pills. That's it. The trick is, the first 3 movies never made mention of these pills* so they spent a lot of time driving in what that's about. For all the talk of the Bourne movies being this generation's James Bond, this is the first one that felt generic to wear that crown. In fact, for a 2+ hour movie, I didn't feel that close to any of the characters by the end. There was a distance to them that I don't remember being in the originals.
*I don't remember if they did, at least. I'm not an expert on this.
Elephant in the Room: Is it really Bourne without Bourne? No. It's not. I've been racking my brain coming up with a similar example of what this movie is like, but can't. I don't mind the "there's more than just Bourne" angle. Not being able to get Matt Damon in even a cameo hurt it in that they were constantly working around him. Also, the whole explanation of Treadstone and all that completely changes things in a way I didn't like. It's like changing the Spider-man story from being the result of a freak accident to him being some sort of chosen one (which is why I didn't care for The Amazing Spider Man). It's a different kind of adaptation to the story, but the DNA of the reworking is the same.
To Sum Things Up:
I liked it. I'm not the biggest fan of the series and this is the most generic of them all. I never asked why I was watching this. I find myself asking why this exists at all. Part of me would prefer they just treat it like James Bond and recast Matt Damon outright instead of shoehorning in this sister narrative.
Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend
No comments:
Post a Comment