TheBourneSupremacy Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It warms my heart when popular art is recognized as art, rather than being written off as "product" by the intelligentsia. If I had to pick one recent set of commercial films to formally celebrate as an artistic achievement, I would have gone with The Lord of the Rings, but the Bourne trilogy is a strong contender. New York's Museum of Modern Art has acquired the Bourne films and is screening all three of them this week, accompanied by panel discussions with Bourne Identity director/franchise supervisor Doug Liman and an expert on neuroscience and memory.

MoMA didn't break with precedent by adding the Bourne movies to its collection, which includes a number of other "mainstream" works (e.g. all of the James Bond films). I'm a bit surprised the MoMA curators were able to get any sort of consensus on Bourne, given many cinephiles' distaste for the hyperactive editing style of Supremacy and Ultimatum. Of course, I do agree with the assessment that the movies represent a higher standard in action filmmaking, both dramatically and technically. As for how much they have to contribute to our understanding of "brain function, memory, personality, and identity" -- ehhh. I like the films, but I'm not sure they seriously engage with those questions. I'm all for talking about it though.

James Bond -- when played by Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan and now Daniel Craig (and a bit less so when played by Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby) -- has long been the gold stanard by which all other cinematic spies have been judged. He's smooth, aloof, quick-witted and charming. Guys want to be like him and women with names like Pussy Galore want to sleep with him. But these days, 007 has some serious competition from a more reserved, grittier and -- dare we say -- more likeable amnesiac spy named Jason Bourne (Matt Damon).

When The Bourne Identity came along in 2002, it pretty much reinvented the action-spy genre, placing its hero, Jason Bourne, squarely in the real world (where things like Bond's invisible car do not exist) and dealing with the unheard of (in the Bond world, at least) issues of moral accountability, character metamorphosis and even vulnerability. Clearly influenced by his neophyte rival, a new Bond was born in 2006's Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig stepping into the tux of a more down-to-earth, relatable and gadget-free 007. Even so, the gap between these two men remains enormous.

From the cars they drive to the villains they battle to the way they fight to the women they bed, Moviefone compares the two most badass spies ever to grace a movie screen in a Jason Bourne vs. James Bond gallery. Check it out and then tell us: Who do you think is the more super spy?

In a summer laden with big-budget, CGI-heavy action movies, there is only one film whose protagonist can say, "I beat the crap out of a man using a rolled-up magazine." As you may have guessed, that man is Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), the impossible-to-kill hero of this August's The Bourne Ultimatum. We have an exclusive first look at the brand-new poster below (click on the image for a larger version).

Directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93, The Bourne Supremacy), this is likely to be the last chapter in the already legendary Bourne saga. This time around, expect another kickass car chase (the franchise is known for them) and a whole lot more of the visceral, gritty, realistic action that sets the Bourne movies apart from so many other films in the genre. As the poster's tag line suggests, Ultimatum will also see everyone's favorite amnesiac spy experience a little something known as "total recall." And from the looks of the trailer, that is not going to be a good thing for the bad guys.

Now that Paul Greengrass has won the hearts of American audiences and critics with United 93, he could easily keep hidden his political criticisms of the U.S. and hope for a prolific career in Hollywood. But he doesn't seem to want the easy life. Once the director finishes post-production on The Bourne Ultimatum, he is set to begin work on a film about the aftermath of the Iraq War. He will write a script based on Rajiv Chandrasekaran's non-fiction book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, and then direct the film for Universal.

Greengrass is no stranger to Iraq. Ten years ago he made a movie for British television called The One That Got Away, about an operation during Desert Storm. His hand-held documentary style is perfectly suited for the discord of the region and its post-invasion events, though he will probably bring something original to the project that hasn't yet been seen in the actual documentaries coming out of the Iraq War.

Despite his putting out mostly apolitical work since arriving in Hollywood, he is typically a political filmmaker and we can probably expect a very critical position from him here. Chandrasekaran's book apparently reveals the failures of the U.S. occupation and presents the whole thing as a major historical disaster. The Washington Post journalist does depict some involved individuals in a good light, though. If Greengrass can keep it as honest and balanced, he might be able to keep some of his patriotic audience.