On The Nice Guys

The Nice Guys is a comedy action that has the enjoyment and chemistry of the first Rush Hour film from 1998. As the action increases in the second half, the comedy is sacrificed, which is a shame as Gosling and Crowe are an excellent pair. Fortunately, their characters are rounded enough to keep them interesting and the story is very knowing of its LA setting and other detective crime conspiracies set in the area. More fun than any summer blockbuster apparently has, including all combined together.

On Needing a Shake-Up with Jason Bourne

Another Jason Bourne film will always be welcome. The initial trilogy with Matt Damon just got better as it went on and the parallel move sideways with The Bourne Legacy (2012) added to the Bourne universe. This fifth instalment, fourth with Damon, third directed by Greengrass is, unfortunately, the weakest of the group (but still better than most Bond films).

That’s not to say that Jason Bourne doesn’t have an important message to tell and it is clear to see why Greengrass and Damon felt the time was right for another outing. Here we find the manhunt for Bourne (a familiar narrative arc; he needs another situation thrown at him) set against the backdrop of information leaks and privacy, Islamic terrorism funded by Western regimes and technology giants selling our information. The landscape for Bourne is ripe.

In this post Snowden, post ISIS world, writers Greengrass and Rouse balance the muddled, uncertain, unknowable political issues very well. While the film starts very busy, it settles down into a solid action thriller. It just doesn’t have the impact, in action or narrative that previous Bourne films have had. Bourne ends the film in the same place he began it, with a new nemesis, maybe, but these films have always been about Bourne, not the antagonist. As you would expect, the action is impressively handled, but has nothing that matches the roof top chase and following fight of The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).

Bourne will always be welcome, but this film shows us that he needs shaking up a bit.

On Embrace of the Serpent

Just because there’s colour, doesn’t mean that black and white becomes a superfluous colour palette. Yet, that has been the case for the majority of cinema, so when a beautifully shot black and white film, like Embrace of the Serpent comes along, it feels like a novelty. Set across two time frames, the latter recounting the story of the former’s diarist, Embrace links the two through inventive, seamless pan movements and the character of Karamakate. Karamakate, as a young man, passionate, powerful and proud is, as an older man and following his encounter with a white man, jaded, tired and exploited; he represents what has happened to the South American landscape following the mining of rubber.

Embrace has a lot to say, and while the writer/director has claimed it has no anthropological value, it feels valuable in its exploration of conquest and colonisation and the message, which is one of Western opportunism, it passes on. At two hours long, Embrace is the perfect length for a film that will be isolating to many audience members. Any longer and people will start to twist in their seats. The performances are rigid, but strangely hypnotic, which feeds into the narrative of drug taking and the important hallucinations that follow that runs through the film. Embrace, an Amazonian road trip is a journey for the viewer, too.