THE BOURNE LEGACY

Universal Pictures

Rated PG-13



Running time: 135 Minutes

Click below to watch The Bourne Legacy trailer.

In Universal Pictures The Bourne Legacy, Retired USAF colonel Edward Norton tries to terminate the Program that had created the Bourne Project - which includes several agents, including a very determined agent Jeremy Renner who wants to survive.

In a continuation of the Matt Damon Bourne series of movie sequels, this fourth movie which is based on the Robert Ludlum books, shows that there were more of the Bourne agents than Damon. While Damon was not in the movie, Damon's stock images were used in the movie to show a continuation of the series. Although having a tip that "Jason Bourne" is in town was confusing. You were expecting to see Matt Damon and he is not in the movie. I was wondering if that was a reference to the previous movie that was overlapping this movie, or if he was referring to Renner - and Renner was in the wilderness.

Ed Norton is working with secret government personnel about putting a lid on several covert programs that is in danger of being exposed by Matt Damon and CIA Director Joan Allen - who had a walk-on part, so it could have been stock footage. While in the process of the termination of the agents and the program's assets, Renner escapes with the help of wolves and rescues Dr. Rachel Weisz, who was involved in the medical and psychological evaluations of the program, from her own termination. Together, Renner and Weisz travel to Manila, Philippines where the medical laboratory is - which has the technology to cure Renner from his physical dependence on the cover program's medications which enhanced the chromosomes of the agent's physical and mental abilities.

When I heard the movie was being shot in the Philippines, I thought they were shooting a couple of scenes to give the appearance of traveling around and giving a worldwide presence. There were a few scenes that were shot in other countries to give that sense of world presence, but half the movie was set in the Philippines - with a lot of Pinoys as extras and bit-parts in the movie. As a Filipino, I found these scenes quite enjoyable to watch and was rather proud of the Philippines being shown in a movie. Although, my Filipino friends point out that it is a shame that the movie kept showing the poor/ugly side of Manila instead of the prettier side. They were very disappointed in that portrayal. It makes the Philippines and Manila seem like a poor ugly country instead of the beautiful country it is.

The opening shot is a freeze shot, so you might think that the projector was stuck on that shot until it starts up. As the star of the movie, Jeremy Renner was given much more to do in this movie than in The Avengers. However, Renner was still mostly an action star than an actor in this movie. Norton was appropriately dirty and unprincipled as the man responsible for the Black Operations and his betrayal in terminating the people involved by burning the program to the ground. The movie reminded me a lot of a James Bond movie. While I thought it was a nice action picture, there were several plot holes that got to me, unless the explanations went by too fast for them to register to me. The most immediate one to me - outside of the Jason Bourne tip off - was how did Renner wind up at Weisz's home? I also thought the ending of the movie was a little too pat. It was just a motorcycle chase. While exciting, there was no direct confrontation between Renner and the agent Louis Ozawa Changchien sent to kill Renner at the end of the movie.

Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 135 Minutes

Pancho
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Pancho's Movie Reviews

ACT OF VALOR

Relativity Media

Rated R

Running Time 111 Minutes



Click below to watch the trailer of Act of Valor.



In Relativity Media's Act of Valor, a Navy Seal team goes on a personnel recovery mission to recover an abducted CIA agent Roselyn Sanchez. The SEALs then search around the world for the terrorists responsible for Sanchez's kidnapping before the terrorists bring their terrorism back home to our country America.

Using active duty U.S. Navy SEALs as the Seal team makes the tactics and action of the SEALs incredibly real. We get to see the weapons and equipment the SEALs currently use on combat deployment, as well as seeing the SEALSs support equipment and their support personnel. The use of the Special Operations Craft-Riverine warboats with active duty Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen, or SWCC, was my favorite part of the movie - especially the way the warboats came charging in for the hot extraction of the SEALs. The film took two years to make as the producers had to work around the SEALs deployments. Watching the SEALs in action made me appreciate the SEALs more for all of the sacrifices the SEALs go through for protecting our country - especially when you consider the SEALs motto is "The only easy day was yesterday."

With the movie having assistance from U.S. Navy personnel and the Naval Special Warfare Command, I can appreciate that this movie is an authentic action film as the SEALs, while in the process of making the film, would not do anything in the movie that was not real and authentic - like the infiltration scenes of their objective areas. I am glad they had water operations that the SEALs were able to do in the movie, since they are Navy SEALs. A lot of the SEALs action scenes were first person shooter scenes where you see through the eyes of the SEAL as they look for targets, especially during night vision scenes. It was great seeing the uploaded camera feed from the UAV for the SEALs to use for intelligence. In other movies, this kind of information appears to come from satellite reconnaissance imagery. This kind of information coming from UAV's is much more believable. The graphics of the locations around the world was a nice idea. Then the graphics would then zoom into the location of the scene - but would sometimes zoom in the opposite direction than what you would expect, which was disorientating.

Having the computer graphics of the team members records makes for a cool introductions, but outside of the team leaders, you do not get to know the team as people - and even then, it was hard for me to tell the leaders apart, since they both looked and sounded alike and had no characterization, except for the fact that one was going to be a father. His story and family life was the basis for the framing story in their civilian lives, as their spouses and children sacrifice so much to support them. The SEALs acting, when they were acting instead of being SEALS, was not that great - but then they are SEALs and not actors. Alex Veadov was more relatable to me as the bad guy than with the SEALs acting as characters. What does come across in the film with the SEALs are the SEALs brotherhood for each other - that they would die for each other. The fictional story is pretty much like it came out of today's breaking news headlines - especially since the story is basically an amalgamation of several SEAL operations.

As a Filipino, I was both proud and saddened that the Philippines and Filipinos were involved in some of the action in the movie. Unfortunately, such things can happen in places like the Philippines in the real world.

At the end of the movie, the audience applauded. The film also listed at the end of the movie the members of the SEALs who gave their lives since 9/11. Sadly, as of 2012, there were a lot of names listed of SEALs who gave their lives. There were much more names on the list than I would have thought would be listed. Considering how good the SEALs were when depicted in the intense action scenes in the movie on what they do, it makes you realize how many intense operations the elite Seal teams have been deployed on over the years to accrue that many causalities. No wonder the Seals have such an intense brotherhood amongst themselves. Over the end credits were pictures of Americana and the real-life heroes who protect our freedom.

"To them and those like them. Damn few."

Rated R for graphic war violence. Running Time: 111 Minutes.

Click below to watch the documentary of Act of Valor.



Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

Pancho's Movie Reviews