[bourne series] darker and darker

To suppose, as we all suppose, that we could be rich and not behave as the rich behave, is like supposing that we could drink all day and keep absolutely sober. [Logan Persall Smith, Afterthoughts, 1931]

Ditto with fame. A first movie where we "discover" the talents of a vibrant new actor is infinitely preferable to the inevitable third movie, intended as a vehicle for the fully fledged star.

Reason? The star in the making is still raw and fresh, still amenable to being directed, still negotiating his salary. And much more than this, chemistry is possible between star and co-star, with few demands, hardly any tantrums on set and the result is often a pleasing and harmonious whole.

There's no distortion. It's a movie focused movie.

In Identity [2002], Franka Portenta, Brian Cox, Julia Stiles, Clive Owen and Chris Cooper and Damon himself added weight to the adage about the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. And there were some great scenes, as Jeffrey Anderson says:

Liman is obligated to run Bourne and Marie through the expected car chase [and] he doesn't try to outdo "The Fast and the Furious" with pyrotechnics and editing. Instead, he raises the level of filmmaking simply by giving our heroes a few moments to breathe when the chase has finally ended. Bourne guides the car into an underground garage, and the pair simply sit for a moment and allow the experience to sink in.

Ditto the tense game of cat and mouse with the Professor [Clive Owen]. There were classic moments in identity.

Then the inevitable happened in Greengrass' Supremacy [2004] - the co-star was killed off early and the chemistry also died. The closest it got again and it really did get close, was with the remarkable but feisty and morose teenage actress Oksana Akinsha near the end.

Don't get me wrong - you have to like Matt Damon and the Bourne character suits him to a tee. James Berardinelli said at the time of Identity:

"If it came down to Damon's Bourne versus Affleck's Jack Ryan, my money would be on the former."

But as the sole star?

Which brings us to this tendency and it is controversial in Bourne, of playing great actors in bit parts. Kevin Wohler, on Julia Stiles, the enigmatic Nicky:

"As in The Bourne Identity, this great actress is underutilized. She has one good scene with Damon before her character completely falls out of the story…"

Michelle Monaghan was virtually never in it.

The reviews so far say Ultimatum [2007] is an excellent film and so it may be if you're a Matt Damon fan. I'd half expected the series to become darker and darker and darker, as seems to be the way these days. Referring to Jason Bourne, Manohla Dargis says:

"The light seems to have gone out in his eyes, and the skin stretches so tightly across his cantilevered cheekbones that you can see the outline of his skull, its macabre silhouette. He looks like death in more ways than one."

But there are supposedly some high points which lift it into the category of thoroughly entertaining and Dargis says:

"it introduces a couple of power-grasping, smooth-talking ghouls and stark reminders of Abu Ghraib that might make you blanch even if you don't throw up."

The question is - how long the series can be sustained for?

Mal Vincent quotes Matt Damon:

"It's the end," Damon said. "I can't imagine how we could go on with the story beyond this. Maybe we wait 10 years and do a movie about Jason losing his car keys, or something like that. Don't count it out."

Which is an interesting comment, given this dialogue in Identity:

Jason Bourne: I don't want to do this anymore.

Conklin: I don't think that's a decision you can make.