Lots of action movies today! Guess I just had a hankering for them. Also, lots of PAX East stuff this week…and probably for a long time. Just too much to cover!
The Bourney Legacy – I always found the Bourne films as interesting movies. Lots of people speaking technobabble, lots of shaky camera action scenes, a rather widespread plot (as in location) around genetic supersoliders who get loose and try to find out who and WHAT they are – it makes for some bizarre action-adventure filmaking. Yet, I do find the lack of clarity in the action as a hindrance rather than an asset. It’s nice that you want me to see the intensity of the situation, but it usually comes at the expense of knowing what’s happening. And rarely did the film stop to explain anything. I’m fine with that, but the stakes were never made particularly clear other than “Bourne is confused and people want to kill him, oh no.” It doesn’t always make for a compelling film because I only know the protagonist’s perspective on a lot of things – but the withheld information wouldn’t have made sense anyway. I suppose they start fixing this with the second and third film in the series, but I always felt a little bit in the dark. Whether or not that’s because the Robert Ludlum novels don’t translate into films that well, I can’t say.
Which is why this new fillm surprised me a bit. I mean, seriously, it looks like a cash-in on the venerable trilogy, right? But Jeremy Renner does a bang-up job with a solid script that, rather than emulating completely the style of the other films, goes for its own vibe. See, this film takes place parallel to The Bourne Ultimatum (pretty sure, please correct me if I’m wrong), and this means we can insert YET ANOTHER ONE SURVIVES. A contrived set-up, but it works. Renner’s (or Aaron Cross/Kenneth Kitsom, it gets complicated) character seems…funny. That sounds weird, but they slow the pace quite a bit for exposition for us, the audience, to understand what’s happening. The action’s clear and I can actually perceive with the human eye, and I know what’s happening – I’d call that an improvement, in any event. Perhaps Bourne fans will. rightly, dispute this, but The Bourne Ultimatum released six years ago – should I remember everything insignificant detail?
Whatever! In any case, it’s fun action-entertainment with a few minor flaws. Rachel Weisz does nothing for me at all, and she’s a rather boring “leading lady” for all the bluster about PhDs in the film. Edward Norton gets straight-jacketed into an office setting where he acts as well as he’s ever done. And, of course, a billion character actors show up just to bless us with their presence and say all sorts of government conspiracy-style information about Treadstone and Blackbriar and other programs. If you can get past the minor issues of TMI at times because you find it fascinate (which I do), then you’ll enjoy this as much if not more than the other films. If you have not seen the others…start from the beginning before you embarrass yourself, seriously.
Safe House – And yet another film about spies and spycraft and that whole lot.
Safe House tells a predominantly less sci-fi genetic engineering plot. In its place comes the expected betrayal, double betrayal, and subsequent triple betrayal by parties involved in the movie, more than like roles played by the character actors rather than themselves. Ryan Reynolds plays the rookie in charge of the safe house, envious of those in the field beyond his innocent four walls; Denzel Washington plays the gruff veteran, already betrayed and betrayer rolled up into one. One’s an idealist, and the other’s a realist – wow, I haven’t seen this before. I guess you could call Washington a villain, since he’s the criminal in this story, but in a surprise to literally no one, everybody’s a criminal including the CIA. I’m not surprised that the critics weren’t too kind to Safe House; they have every right NOT to like it, especially if you see so many similar films.
Where I think the film actually makes a step further in this trope-filled genre (like the above film, I guess) comes from the rather convincing role played by the two leads. There’s a subtle philosophical message about what it takes to become a spy of any kind – you cannot live a normal life, and you must always be on the run from real human relationships. To make a terrible, horrible pun, there’s no safe house in espionage really; protocol won’t save your life. Is this something you want? The risk of getting caught, or having others dear to you killed by accident, means that you cannot stay in one place for any reason, and you cannot fully trust anyone. Who can live such a life? In that sense, Reynolds and Washington play the two sides of the coin, and one transforms into the other…almost.
That transformation involves a LOT of violence, sometimes quite vicious. This all plays into the character development brilliantly, as the brutality adds something that, say, the Bourne films lack. Bourne’s always right in that film, for better or worse. It makes him an action hero whom you can root for, but can’t relate. Safe House doesn’t provide you with that simple depiction of playing the “spy” role – it’s bloody work. I’m honestly glad we get a frank depiction of what such a line of work does to the men who do it. Too often such experiences gloss over the nitty-gritty, but some real stuff happens here! It’s only too bad that certain characters never develop fully enough for us to care about them, but that looks an intentional decision.
Unfortunately, anyone paying attention knows the film’s incredibly predictable, and ends just about the way you’d imagine. The attempts to lead you to the wrong conclusions come from a mile away, and you can easily out-think the mechanization of the script. That doesn’t make it any less interesting or, dare I say, fun! I’d recommend it, anyway. Just think while watching, and I believe you’ll understand what I mean. At least they also wrap up all the loose ends, so there’s something for you.
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That’s Action Movie Monday for you! As promised, lots of games from PAX East in this week’s pile of STUFF.
