Movie #192 - Face/Off

Face/Off
1997 - Rated R - 2 hr 18 min
Director: John Woo
Starring: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Tommy Flanagan

John Woo can't help himself.  There must be doves. There must be artsy, self-indulgent cinematography. There must be gratuitous explosions. 

Obviously, this movie has all three. It also has one of the weirdest premises ever. Two men, the criminal and the man he wronged, switch identities...faces, bodies, voices. All of it. And then, OH NO! The good guy's trapped in the bad guy's body, cuz the bad guy killed the doctors that did the procedure and burned all the evidence that it even took place. No one will ever find out! And the bad guy, dressed as the good guy, is sleeping with the good guy's wife!

Still with me?

Nicolas Cage plays the bad guy, but when the bad guy's in John Travolta's body, he actually does a better job.  Nic Cage is better when he's got the good duy trapped in his body.

I'm getting confused now, so I'm gonna stop.  But you get the idea.  It's confusing, and we're nowhere near this kind of science. Besides, who would EVER do this? EVER?!  It seems like someone had a crazy idea and built a plot around it, just to shoot some of the action scenes and the who's-who stuff.

Ugh.

Movie #91 - The Bourne Ultimatum

The Bourne Ultimatum
Universal Pictures
2007 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 55 min
Director: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Albert Finney, Edgar Ramirez

The thrilling conclusion to the action-packed trilogy... and it's pretty good, too!  Matt Damon - still awesome.  Now that Bourne's got a plan, and he's the one keeping everyone else on their toes, this last installment takes on a different tone.  Damon is fierce and relentless... two words I did not think I would use in a sentence with his name.  Yet, there it is.

I really like this whole trilogy from beginning to end and it was nice to have a reason to watch them all.  Seeing Bourne go from amnesia patient to bad-ass ex-operative with a vendetta is pretty sweet.  This whole trilogy is just fun to watch.

Movie #90: The Bourne Supremacy

The Bourne Supremacy
Universal Pictures
2004 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 48 min
Director: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles, Brian Cox, Karl Urban

When you know what Jason Bourne knows, or at least what the CIA thinks he still knows, you're not going to be safe until you kill everyone... So when another attempt on Bourne's life goes badly (and he loses the one person he cares about), heads start rolling.

The first movie is lots of fun, but it relies heavily on the whole CIA amnesiac thing.  By Supremacy, we know he can't remember anything and he's coping, but he's finally embracing that this is who he is and, in order to change, he's going to have to finish what he's started.  Figure out who he is and kill anyone in the way.  This aggressive Bourne that emerges, more actionary and less reactionary, is so much fun to watch!

I love this trilogy in general, but I think this might be my favorite... just because of the way the character is played by Damon.  And because of how much it really makes you want to watch the third movie.