The Soderbergh Rat Pack*: Bourne Three...

Bourne Three... as Three as the wind blows
As Three as the grass grows
Bourne 3 to follow your heart ...

... nothin'? All right. Folks, the pernt is...

Yes, as the Video Game-ification of Cinema (VGC, VGiC) marches on, it finally sweeps away the Damon-Bourne Franchise. Oh sure, it's made plenty of money (about 200 million, was it?), and it's high up in the IMDb Top 250 (used to be at around #50!), but I don't know. It left me kinda dizzy. I'm kind of an old-school video games man myself: you know, Pac Man, Bubble Bobble, Time Pilot 84. Yeah, the 80s was my decade. The last of the great decades. Hell! There's even a couple movies that feature Time Pilot 84: Last Starfighter and Max. Overdrive, if I remember correctly. Oh sure, it's only in the background. TP84 was only a featured player, but still!** The point being, movies are trying too hard to keep up with video games, and are suffering as a consequence. Some people said that the success of The Blair Witch Project was in part because of all the vomit-inducing amateur camera work. Sorta the same principle at work in Bourne 3. At least Bourne 2 had a little visual clarity. I took a still frame from one of the quieter moments in the film as you can see. It's from the part where Ed Murrow spills the guts about Blackbriar... well, I won't ruin the surprise. It's still a little nebulous to me, actually. Again, video games: Damon this go-round is a little TOO aware of all that's happening around him.
...But getting back to my whole New Rat Pack Theory. I'll reiterate it here: there are now THREE new rat packs, fronted by three people whose last name begins with S: Sandler, Stiller and Soderbergh. And why the Rat Pack? Because this isn't a Lord of the Rings special effects heavy superhit. As I say up top, Bourne 3 is a Soderbergh Rat Pack production. Tony Gilroy is benefitting from the Soderbergh Rat Pack's good will this year of our lord 2007, with his directorial debut in tow Michael Clayton. Better start working on Bourne 4 as a Safety Net Day Job kinda thing. (SNDJ) Who else? Albert Finney, of E. Brock fame and O12 cameo fame, has an all-too-brief (ATB) part here as the arch bad guy. SPOILER: Brian Cox was the arch bad guy (ABG) in Bourne 2. Incidentally, how come you never see Finney and Cox in the same movie together? Answer? THEY'RE THE SAME GUY!

Final note: my close friend and I were subliminally trying to out-do each other on how much we eventually hated the movie. He wouldn't look for it on DVD at the pawn shop, but might accept it as a gift. He gives it 2 and a half stars; I'll give it three. At least Sandy Bullock wasn't in it; then it gets 2 and a half from me.

***
-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan

footnotes
* I'll explain later when I have better visual aides.
** To all the fans of the original Time Pilot: PLEASE STOP EMAILING ME!