The Gimcrack Miscellany

The Bourne Ultimatum is the third and final installment of the trilogy about former CIA assassin Jason Bourne. I must say, I was blown away.

The Good

The cinematography, score, directing, acting, stunt effects, and plethora of settings were all superb. This movie did something that few movies are able to accomplish, especially in this day and age. Do you remember what it’s like to get chills while you’re watching a movie? I’m talking the first time you saw The Matrix, or when the armies of Gondor ride over the orc horde as the sun bursts over the horizon in LOTR: Return of the King. The Bourne Ultimatum was able to give me chills on the part where Jason Bourne is fighting another “asset” in a Moroccan apartment. There is a book involved. You will know what I’m talking about when you see it.

The Bad

There was a little bit lacking in the plot category, but so what? The plot was still ok, and all the stuff I listed above was more than enough to make up for whatever was lacking in terms of plot.

The Beratings

Acting - no beratings
Plot - 1 berating
Inconsistencies - no beratings
Unbelievable Events - no beratings
Schematics - no beratings

Recommended Investment = See it the first weekend

0/10 Stand in line for the very first showing
1/10 See it the first weekend
2/10 See it at full price
3/10 See it at the Five-Buck-Club
4/10 See it at the dollar-fifty
5/10 See it OnDemand
6/10 Rent it from Blockbuster
7/10 Watch it on TV
8/10 Watch it purely for spousal points
9/10 Never watch it
10/10 Buy it and publicly destroy it

The show was shorter but the venue was much better than when we saw them in Chicago at The Aragon. They still interacted with the crowd just like in Chicago and they still played their songs with amazing energy and spirit. This was the last show of their North American tour, and possibly their entire Eyes Open tour (with the exception of Lollapalooza), but their level of fatigue did not show.

Of note:

• Front man Gary Lightbody verbally ravaged a couple that was sitting down in the second row. Everyone cheered.
• I had the best seat in the house, front row, center stage, and could read the tattoo on the bass player’s arm.
• The bass player handed my wife his pick. Notice I didn’t say he threw it and she got lucky and caught it. He actually saw her reach towards him, stopped playing in the middle of a song, bent down, and literally handed her his pick.
• Last but not least, we hung out with the guys from Snow Patrol after the show at The Rathskellar and I got my ticket stub signed by the keyboardist, bass guitarist, and drummer.

In summary, it happened again: I grew to be an even bigger fan of Snow Patrol by seeing them live. Now if only I could get front row tickets to Coldplay. And hang out with them after the show at MacNiven’s.