This past week I decided to re-watch some of my favorite actions films in anticipation for the latest sequel Jason Bourne. Here are thoughts on all the films in the franchise.
The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Identity really surprised me in how toned down it was. It wasn't as action heavy or face paced as the other two and it took the time to dive into the characters and ease you into this world. In many ways it felt like an indy film as the first half of the story really is small in scale and just focuses on Jason Bourne trying to put the pieces together as to who he is. You were also able to understand why the government was after him and how they were trying to cover it up so the blame doesn't come back to them.
The quite moments, while there are a lot, do work well here because they use the opportunity to develop these characters and to get you invested in them. You get the sense that Jason Bourne is just a guy trying to figure out his past and has abilities that not even he knows he has. Making it all the more interesting as you learn more and more about his past.
I liked how there wasn't any moments made just to show off and even the fight scenes, while heavily choreographed, are much subdued compared to the sequels.
This is the most different Bourne film and that's a good thing, it feels like a film that stands on its own and doesn't feel the need to be anything more.
Rating:
The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Supremacy was always a great bridge in the trilogy, taking some of the slower elements of the first film but not going all the way in the action like the third film. One thing I noticed upon my re-watch was how much Bourne doesn't talk in this film and how this really is a revenge story. In this film most of the inner conflict is told visually as flash backs are shown with a mystery behind it and the locations the film travel too tell the story.
Unlike the first film this one has much more action set pieces that make you travel instead of staying in one area. This works the most when Bourne is trying to escape the police on foot as you see all the events leads to him having a car chase. I like how Bourne gets injured through the action and how he continually gets more hurt as more action occurs. It really makes you engaged with what is going on and raises the stakes.
Rating:
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Bourne Ultimatum is always my favorite of the series. It is just a pure action film that almost never takes a break. Normally that can work against a film but here it works perfectly because the previous two films spent so much time developing the characters that we know just about all we need to know. The pacing always stands out to me as everything is paced in a way that raises the tension high but exciting as the same time.
The film has fantastic action and concludes the story perfectly for Jason Bourne. There is much else to say to the film because you can only experience it for yourself to really get the effect this film has.
Rating:
The Bourne Legacy
The Bourne Legacy was not as bad as I remember but does have many short coming behind it.
This biggest being that the film borrows so much from the Jason Bourne story without really distinguishing it self from it. Instead of taking the character of Aaron Cross to his own direction, the film retreats a lot of the elements from Bourne's story. He is not Jason Bourne and because of that a lot of the action is tension-less because his character is established with having any real faults of conflict.
There are some neat sequences in the film and the action is a lot better than most movies out there but the fact that this has Bourne in the title really brings the film down. I think this would have been received a lot better if it had a different title but still connected to the universe. As well as taking the Aaron Cross character on his own journey that was much different from Jason Bourne's. Its not a bad film just not a great one either, so it is left stuck in the middle.
Episodes: The Edge of Mystery & A Little Song and Dance
The first thing I noticed in this episode was the darker tone it took, we really got to see the fall out from last week and the toll its taken on Jarvis. Peggy and the group come up with a plant to save Wilkes from Frost, by simply trading what she wants so they can get him back. They follow through but after saving Wilkes it turns out he had already made a deal with Frost so he can enter the Zero Matter and hopefully fix himself once and for all. This causes him to have to turn on Peggy after just being saved from her so he can get what Frost needs but he doesn't go through with it and escapes. Leading into Episode 9 where things get interesting. We see the Zero Matter in person in a much larger form too. As well as a pretty big explosive ending that makes me interested in seeing how everything will be affected in the couple of episodes. I did think that all the musical numbers with a bit weird and out of place but they were entertaining. The core stand out was definitely the argument and conflict between Peggy and Jarvis. It follow off of the build up from the last episode of his anger building up in him to get revenge. He even goes as far as to try and kill Frost but failing because she still has Zero Matter inside of her. This lead to them both getting captured and having to escape being separated from the group. They escape but what happens afterward is interesting because this is where we get to see Jarvis come in to realize his current problems. The argument is solved when Jarvis realizes his weaknesses and decides to continue to work with Peggy. Thompson takes this into his own hands, planing on creating a bomb to eliminated everyone involved with this problem. But before he can do that Wilkes shows up in the same room as Frost and Vernon and seems to have exploded in Zero Matter form before the bomb could go off.
These were too really good episodes and I thought anytime the villains were on screen was the best parts of both episodes and most entertaining. Rating:
Satoru final prevents Kayo's kidnapping! But did he change it for the better? We pick up from last week where Satoru makes eye contact with his villain but at that moment decided to quickly go back in time one more time to fix the situation permanently! He goes back to the day at the science museum and once again spend the day with Kayo, there are little subtle differences going on but nothing to dramatic. The one change of note was that his friend Kenya confronts Satoru about his recent personality change. He is able to play it off, but Kenya wants to help him out with trying to save Hinazuki. They come up with a plan to falsely kidnap her in order to protect from during the date of the day she goes missing.
Satoru even goes out of his way to make sure the Yuuki has an alibi from the police by throwing a rock in his homes window. He then begins to follow Hinazuki's mother but Kenya stops him before he can do anything. When the day comes of Kayo's disappearance nothing really happens. No phone call from her mother and even the teacher doesn't make much of it. Satoru gets his friends involved in the kidnapping as they wait for time to pass so they can get the attention of the police. Things are starting to look up a bit, until the last moment in the episode where a mysterious person is walking into Kayo's hiding place, she wakes up and notices leaving the episode on a cliffhanger until next week.
I liked this episode but I do have to acknowledge that there were a ton of dumb stuff that happened. I don't know if it on purpose on Satoru's part because it is like he is making irrational decisions without thinking them through all the way. He hides Kayo in a save place for one night, but leaves her alone for a good chunk of the time, it is explained so he can sneak out, but why couldn't he have just included his mom in some capacity in the first place? Also they couldn't have made it more obvious that there is something suspicious about the teacher. Even to go so far as to give visual queues that something is off about him. Do I think he was the person at the end of the episode? No, I have a feeling it will be Kayo's mother. Unless its the killer. Then it will probably be the teacher... Also wasn't there a moment in episode 2 where it shows Kenya and the teacher were secreting talking??? That would explain why he is so interested in helping Satoru so much in this episode. I do like this timeline much more than the future one and I hope we stay here for a while longer until everything is fixed.
I have been a fan of the LEGO franchise from the great games and even a great animated movie that came out a couple of years ago. The LEGO Star Wars games were also a nice addition because you were actually able to play through the entire saga in LEGO form. When Disney purchased Star Wars we all knew that at some point, they had plans to market Star Wars ten fold than what was previous. I have a feeling that the announcement of this knew TV Show will be the start of the saturation that I was worried about. I just keep asking myself "Was anyone asking for this??". The show will air on Disney XD this summer and will take place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (because, canon.). It will focus on new characters and villains and follow them as they take on the Empire and try to restore peace to the galaxy... All in LEGO form.
“With The Freemaker Adventures we are thrilled to bring all-new stories to life that could only be realized in the LEGO Star Wars universe,”
said Carrie Beck, vice president, animation development at Lucasfilm.
“We are embarking on an unprecedented collaboration that will allow us
to extend the narrative experience of the Star Wars saga with the same playful spirit that’s always made LEGO Star Wars so
much fun to watch. We are so thankful to have such great partners in
the LEGO Group, Disney XD, and series developers Bill Motz and Bob
Roth.”
I am sure the show will be entertaining because, Star Wars, but I can't help but feel that this is really unnecessary in the overall story. There have been LEGO Star Wars shows in the past but what never bothered me about those is the fact that they were just spinoffs. This time everything that happens in this show will affect the movies, comics, other TV Shows, and the story much more than before.
The question as of right now is, Will anyone be watching this show when it airs? I know for me I will check it out to give it a chance, but I can't say that I am looking forward to it. But who knows, Rebels has gotten good in its Second season so maybe this one can be good too. Check Out the Poster Here:
