Stars Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassell, Riz Ahmed and Julia Stiles Directed by Paul Greengrass Despite the return of Paul Greengrass and Matt damon to the Bourne franchise with this new entry, one can’t help by note the loss of Tony Gilroy, whose pen guided the last four entires. Here we have Greengrass along with Christopher Rouse (Greengrass’ editor on his recent films including the previous instalments) seemingly reworking their version of The Bourne Ultimatum, in that almost beat for beat, we have a rehash of that movie. What’s slightly different is the play of technology within the world of Bourne, as surveillance technology has improved by leaps and bounds since Damon and Greengrass were last in this world. So, kicking things off is the return of Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), last seen being sent underground by Bourne in the midst of the Ultimatum shenanigans. Nicky hacks the CIA and grabs a few files on the old Treadstone and Blackbriar operations as well a new surveillance program, Iron Hand. Included in all that is a key to Bourne’s past and his initial involvement in Treadstone (with a welcome appearance by Gregg Henry), but it’s not fully explored. It’s here you get a sense of losing Tony Gilroy, who’s always had a way to tie in the political machinations of the program into the plot. What then follows is an action set-piece set in Athens that feels reminiscent of the London train station scenes, and Bourne following the trail that would lead him home (again), with London taking over the Tangiers set-piece and Las Vegas replacing the New York set-piece. While there was the hope for something a little different or new, like that new program that involved Aaron Cross (The Bourne Legacy), instead we have a tackle on the whole surveillance problem (and as a fan of Person of Interest TV series, this feels a little old-hat). Granted, Greengrass can handle the chaos of a mob on screen better than anyone else, giving the movie a sense of immediacy and projecting a visceral sense of danger, although the early sense of setting Bourne’s fighting skills diminishes the final fight a bit. The Athens chase set piece was beautifully shot and edited while the cat and mouse of the London set-piece is the stuff most thriller flicks which they could pull off. The final vehicular chase Las Vegas, while crunchingly spectacular that could give the Fast and Furious franchise a run for its money, feels rather superfluous. It’s there for the sake of being there and the reputation for needing a good car chase scene. Still, the lack of CGI effects does give the movie a kinetic energy that props up the rather lacking story. Damon has the Bourne character down cold and has no problems there, even if he hasn’t a lot to say. Tommy Lee Jones is as gruff as ever while Vincent Cassel brings a very understated danger as the new asset hunting Bourne. Alicia Vikander is a little more effective as the somewhat cold and seemingly calculating ambitious CIA tech specialist, Heather Lee. The stars do contribute to the energy of the piece, driving the movie quite a fair bit. Backed by John Powell’s pulsing themes,working with David Buckley, Jason Bourne still manages to be a high-octane pulsing action flick that fits in very nicely with a summer movie line-up. The complex spy shenanigans of the previous instalments have been sidelined for a more straight-forward story that doesn’t seem to have the (personal) world-shattering effects of Ultimatum. Actions movie fans will be well-served although others looking for the murkier world of loose and compromised morals that permeated through the previous instalments may be left wanting. Rating **1/2 /5 (others can add a * for the action)
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Stars Chris Pine, Zachery Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella, Joe Taslim, Lydia Wilson and Shohreh Aghdashloo Directed by Justin Lin If this current iteration not Star Trek were a TV series, with this particular cast and crew, we would be subjected to the typical adventure where the crew would find some mystery on some planet, beam down and then take care of the problem before returning to the ship. Week after week… So, Star Trek: Beyond is very much in spirit of the TV show in that we’re in the middle of the 5-year mission and the ship is given an assignment to check out an unknown part of space, hidden in a nebula. What would take it beyond the typical TV adventure is simply that several members of the crew are at turning points and the scale of the danger would burst beyond the confines of a typical TV episode. But it still feels rather like a TV episode. Sure, they won’t blow up the Enterprise (again!) for a TV episode, but given the ‘alien’ and unknown territory the crew finds themselves in, it simply means there’s no safe haven to retreat to and there’s no back-up coming. They’re on their own in enemy territory, and to make matters a little more skewed, the usual pairings we’ve come to expect have been thrown for a loop too. This gives some of the lesser highlighted members of the cast a little more opportunity to shine - and in that, there’s brilliance. How the usual fans would accept it, well… Granted, a Spock (Zachary Quinto) and McCoy (Karl Urban) team-up was going to be fun simply because they’re constantly at loggerheads in philosophy, while pulling a “Defiant Ones” scramble to stay ahead of their pursuers. But then you get Sulu (John Cho) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) doing the legwork of finding out what the main villain Krall (Idris Elba) is up to, while Kirk (Chris Pine) and Chekov (Anton Yelchin) handling the MacGuffin of the piece while trying to reassemble the crew. Then there’s Scotty (Simon Pegg) hooking up with Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) who happens to be in possession of a possible means of escape. So, everyone gets a piece of the action. So what we get is a romp of an adventure that fits in very nicely as a typical Summer Movie Adventure; it’s a thrill ride, dolly enhanced by Michael Giacchino’s rousing score and returning themes. Incoming director Justin Lin gives the movie a very different air from the previous instalments even if the story itself doesn’t quite hold up against the reintroduction two movies ago. But by getting away from the typical Star Trek conventions of the Starfleet home-base, the familiar aliens and the politics, we are left with a streamlined story and a straightforward villain with a singular (if misguided, perhaps?) purpose. Lin manages to juggle his cast and their characters deftly (if there was anything he carried over from the Fast and Furious franchise, this was the boon) and along with the script by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, everyone gets their moment. In all, there’s fun to be had, something that was lacking in the last entry. The sense of being a throwback to the television adventures is a welcome change and it works well here. Just don’t expect anything to be majorly in-depth even with the double acknowledgement of the passing of two major cast members / characters. Rating: ***1/2 / 5 Some reviews have gone up on my main blog rather than here, so this is a list of links for movies where the reviews went up there... Sorry I haven't updated here in a while. Hail, Caesar! [2016] Posted Feb 20, 2016 Gods of Egypt [2016] Posted Feb 27, 2016 Hero War (Covering Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice [2016] & Captain America: Civil War [2016]) Posted Apr 29, 2016 X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) Posted June 1, 2016 The Nice Guys [2016] Posted Jue 13, 2016 Warcraft [2016] Posted Jun 16, 2016 Beyond the Sea- Finding Dory [2016] Posted Jun 26, 2016 Independence Day: Resurgence [2016] Posted June 26, 2016 ~and we're all caught up. The Syndi-Jean Journal The Syndi-Jean Journal: Year 2 The Syndi Jean Journal: Year 3 Discover more here. Stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth, Neil Casey Directed by Paul Feig Well, that’s entertaining. A well-intentioned reboot, this new iteration of Ghostbusters hews fairly close to the original in terms of plot, picking up on a concept and running away with it. Simply put, ghosts are suddenly appearing in particular places and the frequency of such incidences is increasing. Apparently, there’s a reason behind all that. Before that, we still have to get our core group together and they take a slightly different approach in establishing certain aspects of the mythology. Instead of having the original three being part of a university faculty with a common interest, we instead start with Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) on the verge of a tenure review at a prestigious university (and sneakily popping in an appearance by the late Harold Ramis), only to have things fall apart when a book on the paranormal she co-wrote years ago with a former colleague, Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) derails her prospective future. In the midst of confronting Abby and meeting Abby’s technical whiz assistant Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), Erin gets pulled along to investigate a possible ghost sighting. Things simply snowball from there as the three scientist end up forming their new ‘research project’ independently and are soon joined by transit officer and New York historian, Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones). McCarthy and Wiig are the consummate double act, having worked together with their director Paul Feig on Bridesmaids. McCarthy in particular is toned down from the typically brash and foul loudmouth she’s built her cinematic career on (since Bridesmaids), something that worked to great effect in Spy (also directed by Feig). While Leslie Jones seems to counterbalance McCarthy and Wiig, it’s McKinnon’s Holtzmann who is a blast as she cooks up their tech and later proves her efficiency in utilising said tech in a standout scene. Chris Hemsworth also provides a bundle of laughs as the dim receptionist, showcasing a humorous side to his usually typical heroic persona. Much of the humour comes more from the stars and their reactions to their situation, quite likely from the comedy pros riffing on each other and ad-libbing a majority of their lines, but there seems little humour comes from either the story or the plot itself, which is very much like the original. In that, the movie falters a little, and the CGI overload becomes spectacularly tedious after a while. While old favourites such as Slimer and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man turn up, it’s more for nostalgia’s sake rather than being part of the plot. In fact, it’s the need for nostalgia that drags the movie down, even while it’s momentarily fun to pick through the cameos from the original stars. Bill Murray has more of a supporting role than a cameo, but just as with the others, it does seem rather superfluous and barely incidental to the overall plot. Then again, given the nature of the movie, plot isn’t something Ghostbusters was banking on. Most comedies of this nature hinge on the performances and in there are some of the gems that carry the movie through to the end, particularly with McKinnon and Hemsworth. Paul Feig seems to have some control over wrangling his cast, keeping a tight leash, enough from keeping them from going way overboard. Still, the movie is entertaining enough to be enjoyable, keeping in line with the spirit of the original. It would be far more interesting to see where the inevitable sequel might go, what with the hint given in the post credit scene. Rating: *** / 5
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