The Bourne Legacy

The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Directed by Tony Gilroy

How can you have a Bourne film without Jason Bourne? That was my main concern before seeing Legacy. Luckily the film did a good job of establishing how Jeremy Renner's Aaron Cross fits into the Bourne mythos.

Unfortunately, that is one of the few things that the film did well. I think JRen did a good job bringing Cross to life and Rachel Weisz portrayed Dr. Shearing's emotional state quite beautifully, but the rest of the characters felt stiff and underdeveloped. The most disappointing character for me was Edward Norton's Eric Byer. Almost every word that came out of Norton's mouth made me cringe, and I couldn't tell if it was due to bad writing, bad delivery, or both.

I'm not even going to try to explain how I feel about the worst part of the film: the end. The overall structure of the film was acceptable, but the ending was nonexistent. Perhaps it is meant to suggest that Cross and Shearing (and Bourne by extension) are doomed to live forever on the run? Or perhaps the writers just couldn't think of an ending that would cement the transition into the next Bourne film.

I have an idea! What if after Cross and Shearing made their escape on the boat, they discovered that they were being followed by another boat. As it approaches, Cross ninja jumps onto its deck, only to be attacked by.....Jason Bourne! They fight for a moment, until Bourne easily knocks Cross unconscious.

Cut to black.

Roll credits.

Even though Legacy wasn't everything I hoped it would be, I'm still very excited to see JRen and Matt Damon on screen together. How excited are you for the continuation of the Bourne franchise? Or are you secretly hoping Legacy will be a big enough bomb to sink the ship? Share your thoughts below!

3 out of 5 stars
Viewed August 27, 2012 at Denton Movie Tavern in Denton, TX

September 2012 Preview!

Here is a quick list of the films I plan to see in September:

Finding Nemo 3D (9/14/12)
Before helming the massive flop John Carter, Andrew Stanton directed a little film for Pixar called Finding Nemo. I'm not the hugest fan of 3D, but come on, everybody is going to see this one.

Dredd (9/21/12)
I'm not as excited about this one as I am about the other three (or as much as the girlfriend is), but I know that I'm going to see it. The premise still seems a little weak to me, but Karl Urban is awesome enough to give the movie a chance.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (limited 9/21/12)
Emma Watson's first post-Harry Potter film tells the story of an introvert freshman (Logan Lerman) trying to deal with life (and high school) under the tutelage of two seniors (Watson and Ezra Miller). Also starring Paul Rudd, Dylan McDermott, Mae Whitman, and Kate Walsh.

Looper (9/28/12)
JGL stars as a hit-man who kills for the mob of the future. That doesn't make much sense. Lemme try again... In the future, the mob will have the ability to send people back in time to be killed by JGL. Wouldn't it just be simpler to kill them in the present (future)? Oh, and JGL is Bruce Willis in the past (present). Will it be confusing? Most definitely. Will it be awesome? YES.

Are there films that you're excited about that I've overlooked? Please share below!

The Dark Knight Rises

Well we finally got around to seeing The Dark Knight Rises, although unfortunately not in IMAX... :(
Since I'm a little late to the discussion party, I'll just list off a few specific reactions and then y'all can let me know if you agree.

First off, I loved TDKR. I definitely think it's a fitting end to one of the greatest trilogies of all time.

TDKR is the fourth fastest film to reach $400 million domestically. It reached that benchmark after 29 days in theaters, eleven days slower than The Dark Knight. I initially predicted that TDKR would track ahead of (or at least pretty close to) TDK and end up with a final domestic gross around $550 million. That was an overly optimistic prediction, but I do still think it should end up close to $500 million.

I motion for TDKR to be renamed Michael Caine Punches the Audience in the Feels. There are very few actors who can make me tear up just by crying themselves, and he just joined that list.

Tom Hardy: aka one scary owl monday to friday.

Twist I didn't see coming: Marion Cotillard revealing herself as Talia al Ghul and the real villain of the film when she stabs Batman in the back.

Twist I did see coming: JGL revealed as Robin/Nightwing. Please please please let this mean we will get to see a Nolan Robin/Nightwing film.

Were you satisfied with Nolan's farewell to Batman? Share your thoughts below!

5 out of 5 stars
Viewed August 17, 2012 at Cinemark 14 in Denton, TX

Box Office Review: July 2012

It is very difficult to discuss the past month's performance at the box office in light of the tragic event that occurred on July 20 in Aurora, Colorado. Now more than ever, the film community must band together to condemn this and other senseless acts of violence. Film has always been the greatest medium for spreading new ideas and influencing ways of thinking around the world. As a filmmaker one must recognize the power inherent in the medium. I recognize that that the audience will always find varied meanings within the film, many that were unintended by the filmmakers, but there is no place in our society for films that actively promote or even condone this type of violence. Now I haven't yet seen The Dark Knight Rises (so don't send me any spoilers...) but I know from Nolan's other works that he would never condone actions of violence against the innocent.

< / soapbox>

This post is supposed to be about numbers, right? I like numbers. No wibbly wobbly emotional stuff...

What worked:

The Dark Knight Rises
Though it hasn't broken any records and is still lagging behind its predecessor, TDKR has still been quite a successful summer blockbuster. Batman flew past his production budget after only nine days and just passed $300 million domestically, $550 million worldwide. Will it outgross The Dark Knight? I think so. But I doubt it has any chance of getting close to The Avengers' mammoth haul.

The Amazing Spider-Man
Like TDKR, Spidey is having a hard time living up to the box office successes of his previous incarnation. With only $244 million domestically, The Amazing Spider-Man is the lowest grossing film in the franchise by around $80 million. Hopefully these lower returns won't give Sony cold feet about The Amazing Spider-Man #2, because I really enjoyed Andrew Garfield's interpretation of the character (and even preferred it to Tobey Maquire's.)

Ted
If anyone doubted that Seth MacFarlane's crude and usually hilarious brand of humor would translate well from TV to the big screen, they were definitely mistaken. The $50 million comedy starring Marky Mark and Meg from Family Guy has already reached $195 million domestically, which may be enough for it to hold onto its title of highest grossing R rated comedy of 2012.

What didn't:

People Like Us
Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci's attempt to break into the world of heartfelt dramas has unfortunately fallen flat. People Like Us grossed a depressing $9 million in July, bringing its total domestic haul to a mere $12 million, $4 million short of its production budget. Will the goodwill from the Transformers franchise continue to give Bob and Alex chances to pursue pet projects or will they be forever doomed to churn out mindless action drivel with robots in 3D?

The Watch
Here is a classic case of potential break-out R rated comedy gets mixed up in a PR nightmare, has its title and release date changed, and then barely makes more in its opening weekend than Let's watch a fourth movie about people who wish they could dance good so they can be famous like Channing Tatum.