Saturday

Reading an old copy of theguardian's Film & Music supplement yesterday, I discovered their original review of The Bourne Ultimatum. You may know that I attempt to avoid reading reviews before I see films - in case they ruin it for me - but then forget to read them once I have. So, this was a little hidden joy for me, and I found out two new things. The first thing is that theguardian, and this reviewer, are overly proud of their involvement in the film. Somehow they miss the point that their journalist is portrayed as an inept coward (Bourne has everything under control when the journalist starts running thus getting the attention of the enemy, and Bourne recovers the situation, by killing two guys, only for the journalist then to decide to run again and get himself shot). It is, however, true that simply by association with Bourne, theguardian is now cool. The second thing is that Bourne uses public transport and is thus an environmentally friendly action hero. Of course, this is the choice of the writer and director, and the particular character and situation of Bourne, rather than the deliberate choice of that character, but it's still an entertaining aspect, and still, I think, what makes Bourne so popular for us. One thing that did worry me, however, was that the reviewer, due to the ending of the movie, suggested a sequel coming soon, which I don't think (and hope) is true at all.