Is The Bourne Identity better according to online resources? What makes it better?
“The Bourne Identity” is an action packed adventure of the top CIA assassin,
Jason Bourne (Matt Damon). In the beginning, Bourne is found off the coast of Marseilles by a small Italian fishing boat. Later in the movie we find out that Bourne was sent to
kill Nykwana Wombosi, an African leader, but failed, thus leading into the plot of the story, which is the CIA trying to kill Bourne. “Taken” on the other hand is about a retired CIA spy whose daughter is vacationing in Paris, France and is kidnapped due to her teenage arrogance and her lack of self-control when it comes to European guys. Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) has retired from the CIA but puts his skills back to use when he has to go to Paris to find his daughter and seek revenge on the ones who kidnapped her. There seems to be this common misconception that Taken somehow has an edge over ‘Bourne’.
My main argument is that Taken does not give the viewers any sort of
original text, while Bourne is refreshing and original for an action thriller.
Some consider Taken as, “one of those Frenchy efforts to do an American-style chase-'em-down and shoot-'em-up” that have been out of style for almost a decade. Followed by unrealistic resources and a type of “Basil Exposition” character who is unknown to the story except for his ability to tell accents, heritage, and line of work, solely based on a two-word phone recording. Thirdly, the movie is full of cheesy lines such as, ‘I will find you, and I will kill you.’ These types of movies are nothing new to the movie world and it leaves viewers disappointed.
On the contrary, Bourne shares equally, if not better, resource and fighting skills. The difference is that Bourne shies away from the use of weapons (aside from the lethal ball-point pen), to take down people trying to kill him. Bourne’s resources are tracked/ witnessed by viewers throughout the movie, providing a realistic experience. For example, when Bourne is searching for the boating company, you see Bourne access some of his resources as simple as phonebooks. Bourne always knows what to look for and why something will help. What Bourne is looking for throughout the movie is details that help bring back his memory.
Both characters, Bourne and Mills, are known for their ability to slip out of nearly impossible situations. Mills displays athleticism, despite the forming wrinkles all over, and somewhat is able to fend for himself. Mills is caught by the bad guys and dangles from a rusty pipe, one that would certainly break with his weight. But somewhat impressively, Mills fights off a few men who are supposed to be guarding him, but lets him escape. Bourne is different because he does an equal amount of ass beating, but goes about it in a classy, under cover way. Bourne also uses tactical strategies as opposed to…whatever Mills does. This tactical set up plays into the hands of the viewer. What I mean is that even when he is beating people up, you still get the feel for who Bourne is and how he works. Bourne works quietly and moves invisibly. He uses guns often to make a decoy and specializes in hand-to-hand combat. Mills is forced to use firearms in close combat fighting because he clearly does not trust his skill set to disarm his opponents. But with Bourne, the action scenes are filled with creativity and thoughtful assault.
Based on many sources, the general consensus is that Bourne’s action scenes and clever plot make a great movie. Taken has little to no flow to it and the plot is shallow, leaving viewers to decide if it is a movie, or a killing compilation. Sources praise Taken for some of its action scenes but wonder if the plot is only a break from more fight scenes.
1. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20020617/REVIEWS/206170301/1023
3. http://www.movietome.com/pages/tracking/index.php?tid=30&ref_id=363232
4. http://blogcritics.org/video/article/movie-review-taken/
5. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/review/film/s684787.htm
I have to say that having never seen these movies, I now feel as if I have. The in-depth plot descriptions are easy to follow and intriguing. You give a lot of detail without going into a play by play.
ReplyDeleteI guess the one thing that bugged me was how so much of the entry subsisted of plot/character summaries, which got slightly tiresome to read after a certain point. But after rereading the blog, I start to see you opinions on the films/your sarcasms coming through the facts about the summaries, and I find my self breaking out into laugher.
I wonder how many times you have seen both of these films?
I forgot to mention in my previous comment that I liked the line, "Bourne also uses tactical strategies as opposed to…whatever Mills does". I thought this line contributed well to your overall argument, and your authentic writing style was apparent.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the plot in Bourne is much more interesting but I would disagree that Mills does not use tactical strategies. Their fighting styles are a lot a like and although Bourne's a good hand to hand combater, Mills can do the job as well. I agree with your idea that Bourne is better because of the more complex and interesting plot, but Taken is also very goog when it comes to action thrillers.
ReplyDeleteYou discuss both sides pretty good, but your a little bias just liek the burrito hunt. Try to step back for a while and look at the movies again. You do have a convincing arguement though.
Well done on describing the initial plot of both movies as since I have seen neither this gives me a little background to work with. The way you describe plot development as well as style and action scenes is descriptive and interesting however it does show an obvious bias. You do mention how others feel about this a bit but you need to add a little more. Overall an interesting and well thought out blog.
ReplyDelete-Jonathan
Yo Gus,
ReplyDeleteI know you're such a huge fan so it was inevitable that you'd write about the Bourne series. I like how you decided to compare your favorite movies vs. some other spy movie. I also liked how personal you made it when you said that the lines were cheesy. Here are some questions:
1. Why do you like Bourne so much?
2. Why did you choose to compare with Taken?
3. Plus, you're so biased; can I trust you?
4. And who's Mills?
5. Why not incorporate your hyperlinks into your text?
Jenni
Thanks for introducing me to Taken. I've watched all the Bourne series, partly because my brother had bootleg copies (or maybe for Bourne he had the real deal), and partly because love showing repeats on cable during any given holiday. I have less passion for the movie, but I'm interested in the plot creation, foreign settings, and various female counterparts.
ReplyDeleteIn your blog, I felt pretty convinced by why you think Taken is less interesting, and your humorous dismissiveness helps. I would have liked to have seen a better use of links. For example, a clip of Bourne with a clip of Taken. I also think that you could have engaged the sources you listed at the end by commenting on their reviews. That would have been better than just a list tacked on.
I also wonder if Taken has three parts the way Bourne does. And if not, could that be a reason why it's less thrilling?
eder
Very good argument. Though I find The Bourne series to be more thrilling and action packed than Taken. And yes I have seen both. And to whoever asked why the author compared the two. It is because the movie trailer came out and said it was better than Bourne. Which sparked the rivalry.
ReplyDeleteThere's no way that The Bourne Identity (TBI) is better than Taken. TBI is all style and no substance. They took a complex plot from the book and dumbed it down to a plot that's been used over and over again - he's a failed experiment that didn't work so they want to terminate him. Plus, Bourne did not fail in his original mission, he chose not to go through with it because Nykwana Wombosi had a son; that reason has been used enough times to say that it's unoriginal. By the end of the movie Bourne only knows his name. Whoopee doo. The lack of protagonists in TBI makes it hard to root for anyone. I don't like the female lead because she just comes across as useless and uninteresting. Why do they fall in love at the end? There's no build up for it. At least the girl in Taken is a teenager so she has an excuse. With Taken, Liam Neeson has the intensity to make you want him to succeed. Plus, good movies have killer lines. Three movies later, Bourne has none while Taken has that nice speech Liam makes to the bad guys on the phone. You say you couldn't follow the plot for Taken, but I followed it just fine. Bourne does have the better action scenes though. If you take the action scenes from Bourne and put them in Taken you'd have a really good movie. BTW I hate all three Bourne movies. So I guess that's my bias vs. yours. :-)
ReplyDelete