Bourne to Rush

I went with my friend, Shanon, to two movies on Saturday. In the afternoon, we went to see Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in "Rush Hour 3".

I enjoyed the first 2 Rush Hour movies (from '98 and '01), but felt that Chris Tucker's '97 vehicle with Charlie Sheen, "Money Talks", was superior to both of those. I went into RH3 with low expectations, but alas, even my lowly 'spectations weren't fulfilled. I laughed out loud a few times, but that's just not enough, not in a world where there are movies like "Wedding Crashers', "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", and "Borat". The action was alright, but ultimately felt meaningless. I don't have a clue what the plot was about, either (very convoluted). Shanon had a good time with the film. Heck, you might, too, but it was definitely a step down from RH1 and 2. During a couple expository scenes, I was thinking to myself, "Man, this is fucking boring!"

After the movie, we headed over to Friday's to dissect it. No, I just asked him what his favorite part was as we moved on to other more weighty subjects such as his mother's recent cancer diagnosis. We had a good meal and thought about going to another movie film. We had already seen part 3 of RH; why not go to the 3rd Bourne movie? So it was that we went to the early evening show of Matt Damon's "Bourne Ultimatum".

The theatre was full with the audience consisting mostly of adults, hardly any teens (a good thing since older adults are usually more well-behaved during a movie, you know, no messing around with their cell phones, kicking seats, and talking like they're sitting in their own living room). Me and Shanon got there just before the previews started, so had to sit near the front (we usually sit near the front, anywho :P). I was a bit drowsy after having eaten Friday's, so laid on my side (a common practice for me) as the movie started. Shanon did the same a few minutes later.

I found the first "Bourne" movie from the summer of '2 quite solid. I did have some problems with the second movie, most notably all the "cuts" that I was exposed to during the film's action sequences. Here's what one reviewer said:

The director of The Bourne Identity, Doug Liman, was able to present the fight scenes in a clear, no-frills fashion. In The Bourne Supremacy, there are so many cuts and edits that the fights devolve into an incoherent mess. It's better not to try to follow them when they're going on - just wait until they're over to see who's left standing.

Though this 3rd movie has the same director as the 2nd, I noticed that the chase scenes weren't quite as hard to follow (though one hand-to-hand scene was basically indecipherable). On the whole, though, "Bourne 3" is a very well-done action movie that consists almost entirely of chases; just a very solid suspense thriller with Matt Damon's dialogue in the film really kept to a minimum (he lets his fists do most of the talking).