On Parallel Storytelling with The Bourne Legacy

Tony Gilroy, who wrote the previous Bourne trilogy, has expanded his role from writer into writer/director as he attempts to expand the Bourne franchise beyond Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon. Gilroy has approached this by creating a narrative that runs parallel to The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and this is the most fascinating feature about The Bourne Legacy. We see scenes from the latter of the previous trilogy extended and given more depth. The events from Ultimatum and the chaos that Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne causes in that film are referred to throughout. This technique, while not necessarily unique, is a different approach in today’s cinema as many filmmakers look to create their own stamp on a franchise with reimagining’s, prequels or even worse, remakes. Gilroy displays his respect for the previous work by creating this parallel storyline.

Unfortunately, beyond the expanded narrative The Bourne Legacy fails to live up to the quality of the previous films. While Jeremy Renner makes a good rouge agent and Edward Norton is fantastic in his role, the film strays too far into science fiction. This is a shame as it was the realism and the practicality of the characters that made the previous films so engrossing. The focus on the science behind the agents hints at some element of super human ability, which detracts from the tension in the fight scenes. Additionally, Gilroy also seems too focused on what it next to create a complete film here. There is talk of bringing Renner and Damon together for the next film, when the best option maybe to leave the franchise alone. 

On Expressionism and Rom-Com with Take This Waltz

Written and directed by Sarah Polley, Take This Waltz follows a traditional romantic comedy narrative, but is vividly offbeat due to Polley’s creative, non-naturalistic devices, which makes this an expressionist rom-com.

The quirky character traits (a fear of fear) can at first be confusing, as the characters seem too exaggerated to be believable. However, once you realise the effect that Polley is aiming to create, one where distortion and exaggeration express the emotion, the film really takes hold. The film is set and shot in Toronto and Polley has found locations of fantastic colour, both interior and exterior and in the use of costumes to bring the film off the screen and reflect the mood.  

The film rejects expected conventions of rom-com while keeping the narrative very typical. A beautiful underwater dance where the characters don’t touch says so much about the relationship we are experiencing without the use of dialogue. And this form of expression is what to expect from Take This Waltz and also what makes it a unique rom-com, more memorable than other films sharing the genre.   

On Technology and Comedy with Ted

Gollum, King Kong, the Avatar aliens and now Ted. All created using the same state of the art motion capture technology. Only one of them allows prostitutes to defecate on the apartment floor. Using this technology for an X rated comedy is a nice touch as it allows writer, director Seth MacFarlane to bring Ted to life and make him a character in the way Gollum was. So far the technology has only been used to generate dramatic or alien characters, with comedy maybe seeming undeserving or unlikely to need the technology. But, even when the character is almost 100% comedy, as Ted is, rendering them with more realistic human emotions and movement that motion capture brings, makes the film, in this case, much funnier. And Ted is funny, pretty much in the same way Family Guy is; it hits and misses, but mostly hits. The comedy is generated through MacFarlane’s writing mostly, but the combination of Wahlberg, who is more and more versatile, MacFarlane’s voice and the cleverly animated Ted, makes this essentially a live action version of Family Guy.   

On Breaking the Trilogy Trend with The Dark Knight Rises

It has almost been an unwritten rule in film history that trilogies always have a weak chapter and that chapter is usually the third. Yet, recent filmmakers have sought to break this trend. Toy Story (1995 – 2010) and the Matt Damon Jason Bourne (2002 – 2007) films being the most notable to date.

Christopher Nolan sought to add his name to this list and was in an excellent position to do so with Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008), which set a new standard for not only superhero films, but also summer action films. With The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan has created a successful trilogy, but this latter film does not meet the high standards Nolan has set. Where Batman Begins was more a character study than an action film and The Dark Knight was a crime/action epic, The Dark Knight Rises combines elements of both, without being as successful as either.

As we have come to expect, the acting is fantastic and the technical features are exemplary; sound design, lighting and cinematography create a beautiful film and Nolan once again illustrates that IMAX is a more immersive technology than 3D. Yet, surprisingly the narrative lacks the consistency in its complexity that made The Dark Knight (and Nolan’s Inception (2010)) so fantastic. Also missing is the bite and the risk taking that has become expected in Nolan’s films. The Dark Knight Rises favours a safe, conventional ending and with its many story threads feels busy rather than smooth. This is even more frustrating as Nolan has the opportunity to end his trilogy with the edge that his reimagining of Batman suggests and deserves.

However, it would be unfair to say The Dark Knight Rises is a weak film. Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard are all excellent additions and Anne Hathaway’s master thief fits into the Nolan world very well. Hardy’s Bane is terrifying and his face off with Batman is a brutal and memorable scene within the whole trilogy. Yet, Bane’s end is equivalent to the lack of risk and narrative bite discussed above. Nolan also creates a very satisfying cyclical story that picks up on aspects of the two previous films and continues to embed his Batman films with an ideology that is very critical of the risk-taking, economy-ruining capitalists of today. Unfortunately, The Dark Knight Rises only occasionally shocks and thrills in the way the previous films have, but when it does, it does it better than any other superhero/action film out there.