Sunday, August 19, 2012

The Bourne Legacy


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Went to see the latest Bourne movie - "The Bourne Legacy."

I hate to say it, but it wasn't nearly as good as I expected. It moved rather slowly during the first half of the movie - setting up for the big finish. And it was almost boring.

The new guy was Aaron Cross, and in the first part of the movie we see him crossing icy streams and mountains in Alaska, with no explanation of why until later.

Interspersed with that we see scenes of people in charge of the Treadstone Project and Operation Blackbriar worried to death about being exposed.
(I suggest you rewatch "The Bourne Ultimatum" - the previous movie, to understand what the hell is going on.)

And it's all kind of tedious.



But the movie picks up when the beautiful Rachel Weisz shows up and "they" try to kill her, with Cross coming to her rescue seemingly out of nowhere.

There is an exciting motorcycle chase with Cross and Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel) being chased by Manila cops and being hunted by an assassin sent by "them" at the same time.

Of course Cross and Marta get away.
(SPOILER ALERT! Whoops, too late!).

If there had been more action during the first half of the movie it would have been SO MUCH better. As it is I can only give it 5 out of 10 stars. And I'm glad I only paid $5 to see it.

I have the first three Bourne movies on DVD, but I very seriously doubt if I'll buy this one when it comes out.
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Sunday, August 12, 2012

"Total Recall" # 2

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Went to see the remake of "Total Recall" and I LIKED IT!!

Once the hero went in to Rekall, the action began, and was almost nonstop. Lot's of excitement while he was being chased by his "wife" and other cops, both human and robotic. The story is similar to the original, with a few changes. For one, Quaid never ends up on Mars. The only inhabitable places on Earth are the United Federation of Britain and The Colony (Australia). And the only way to get from one to the other is via a gravity elevator that travels through the Earth's core.

Even when things slowed down the movie was good. The effects were of course excellent and the locations were interesting.

The robotic cops/army looked a lot like the Star Wars storm troopers with elements of Cylons. The city has lots of floating buildings for all the people to have someplace to live.

{For a more comprehensive synopsis click on the link.}

The stars of the movie are Colin Farrell as Quaid, the gorgeous Kate Beckinsale as his "wife" Lori, and the equally gorgeous Jessical Biel as his real love, Melina.

I rate this move a 9 out of 10! And I'll definitely buy the DVD when it comes out (new if it isn't too expensive; used if it is).

Sunday, August 5, 2012

"The Dark Knight Rises"

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Went to see the newest Batman movie. And it was't bad (meaning it was good; not great, but worth the $5 I spent for the matinee. Doubt if I'd pay $10 to see it. I could have paid $9.50 for the 3-D IMAX viewing, but didn't).

It ran over two hours, and they went by pretty fast. The action was pretty good, and even the slow part were interesting. I think I like Christian Bale as Batman over the others (Michael Keaton, George Clooney or Val Kilmer). But maybe it's just because it's the last one I've seen.

The regulars were there - Michael Caine (Alfred) and Morgan Freeman (Fox), and Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman). And they all were good. (Have you ever seen a movie when Morgan Freeman wasn't?)


Of course the newest addition was Cat Woman played by Anne Hathaway. I like Anne, she's pretty and she always does a good to excellent job in her roles. And she played Cat Woman as you would expect - self-serving until it was crunch time.

But, saying all that, I'm not sure if I would pay full price for the DVD. I've never been a big Batman fan. Maybe I just like my heroes with super powers.

I rate this a 7 out of 10.
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