Bourne to be Wild

[MK]

My wife and I loved The Bourne Identity. It was a great modern take on the secret agent. The car chase scenes made The French Connection look like a 25 cent kiddy ride that in front of grocery stores. It was a great vehicle for Matt Damon. The producing team of Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy who were part of the Spielberg machine during his best years. You might remember them from the Indy trilogy.

So...we were excited to hear they were making a sequel. We saw The Bourne Supremacy last night. It was fun like the first one. The car chase scenes were even more dynamic...especially one particular shot where Bourne gets broad sided. It made me jump a bit.

Though the movie was very entertaining. It seemed a notch below the original. The cinematography was VERY shaky. I don't think they locked off a shot in the entire movie. It looked all handheld. That combined with the choppy editing was annoying. It wasn't as bad as On Her Majesty's Secret Service...but you get the idea.

Also the story had a less than great ending which didn't help by the supporting cast being a bit weak.

You might think I didn't enjoy the movie becuase I have pointed out a few points that fell short. Not true. It was one of the better films I have seen this year. It is just that if you really love a movie, you want the sequel to measure up....which is rarely the case.

I know this is not a golden era movie or even a movie set in the 30's or 40's, but I like modern movies too.

 

[Dalexs]

It's funny that you mention the shakey camera "style."

It wa either E! or VH1 had a "Behind The Movie" on the other night and director Paul Greengrass was talking about how he was trying to sell the concept of doing an entire movie with just handheld and this was the one that he was able to makje happen.

I'll go see it at some point. I liked the book (which it is loosely based on.....)

Dalexs

 

[Bogie1943]

Well, MK, I guess I will have to go see this film now, I was avoiding it, but it sounds pretty darn good. Frank and Kathy usually pick very good projects, Seabiscuit for one, great film. I would like to see them work with Steve again, crank out another classic or two. I think since Steve started using a lot of hand held stuff in SL and SPR, that it has become more respected by filmmakers, adds to the feeling a realism. It was looked at before as a student film kind of shooting, been there done that myself, but now it's more eccepted.

 

[PrettyBigGuy]

I saw it too and I thought it was entertaining. A good popcorn film. The shaky hand-held stuff was terrible though. It kind've makes you naseous. I think filmmakers these days think that it's cheaper to shake the camera and make quick cuts than it is to pay a stunt coordinator to set up good fight scenes

 

[Nathan Flowers]

My wife and I both really liked the first one, and have it on dvd. We are looking forward to seeing Supremacy sometime this week or next, if possible. If not, then we'll have to get it when it comes out on dvd haha.

The "shaky cam" is something that came out of MTV, in my opinion. I can't stand watching something where the camera is constantly moving. Hopefully I'll be able to stand it in this one.

 

[Dalexs]

Originally posted by Zohar


The "shaky cam" is something that came out of MTV, in my opinion. I can't stand watching something where the camera is constantly moving. Hopefully I'll be able to stand it in this one.

And, of course, lets not forget to credit NYPD Blues for bringing the technique to new heights. Talk about getting nauseus... (where's the smiley of the little guy throwing up...)

 

[Williamson]

Didn't they use that same technique for the movie "The Blair Witch Project"? We did not see the movie but I remember hearing people talk about there being a similar handy-cam feel to it and that it made them nauseus trying to follow the action from scene to scene (Talk about needing some dramimine)....We liked the first one and want to see the second one as well. Regards,Williamson

 

[Bogie1943]

Well, being a filmmaker, I am more of a dolly and crane/jibb style director, I don't really like to use handheld that much, when I made my high school films handheld was often in, but steady handheld, lol, as steady-cam as could be. I would say, make it look like a steady-cam, not a handheld shot please, keep it nice and smooth. LOL ahhhh those old days of making movies in high school, all gone now, time to get to the good stuff, Hollywood here I come.

 

[schwammy]

I was not a terribly big fan of the first Bourne movie. The part that really bewildered me was when Matt Damon (with the girl in tow) breaks into a deserted farmhouse. Then a few minutes later the owner drives up with his kids, but never says anything about the fact that his front door has been kicked off its hinges.

Overall I remember just feeling slightly dissatisfied with the film, though this is the only specific complaint I can now recall.