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Thursday, August 4, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ARTS
COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK
‘Bourne’ subpar
By MATTHEW BARNAUSKAS
Daily TV/New Media Editor
It’s been four years since “The
Bourne Legacy” and nine years
since Matt Damon (“The Martian”)
stepped
into
the role of the
titular
amne-
siac CIA assas-
sin.
Director
Paul Greengrass
(“Captain Phil-
lips”) returns to
helm the series,
reuniting with
his
longtime
editor Christo-
pher Rouse (who won an Oscar for
“The Bourne Ultimatum”) to pen the
screenplay. With all these pieces in
place, it would seem that the Bourne
series would be primed to return to
the genre-defining, award-winning
form it once held. However, “Jason
Bourne” takes a few too many steps
back and creates an entry that feels
more like a retread than a return to
relevance.
Greengrass still proves himself a
competent hand in guiding the series’
action, being one of the few directors
who knows how to effectively use
a handheld camera, capturing the
whirlwind pace of Bourne’s combat
prowess, avoiding the downfalls of
“shaky cam” and maintaining a con-
sistency and comprehensibility that’s
often lost in lesser hands. However,
despite all of Greengrass’s technical
strengths, I found myself struggling
to buy into the suspense and stakes
the film presented on screen.
Unfortunately, this arises from
the generally derivative nature of
the script, which often cuts from
the Bourne cloth but does little to
reinvigorate the formula. For some,
this return to the status quo will be
more than enough, but for a series
that once found itself at the forefront
of the form, it’s hard not feel disap-
pointed by how formulaic and half-
baked “Jason Bourne” feels. Perhaps
the series should have also found
a way to bring writer Doug Liman
(who also directed “The Bourne
Legacy”) back as well.
Picking up years after Jason
Bourne exposed Operation Black-
briar, the film finds Bourne just get-
ting by, taking part in the occasional
bare-knuckle brawl to make a little
cash. But when Nicky Parsons (Julia
Stiles, “Silver Linings Playbook”)
reenters his life with information
regarding Bourne’s father and his
subsequent recruitment into Tread-
stone, Bourne is thrust back into a
world of conspiracies and a life on
the run, pursued by CIA director
Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones,
“No Country For Old Men”) and his
protégé, Heather Lee (Alicia Vikan-
der, “The Danish Girl”).
While the cast is full of top-notch
talent, its talents are mostly wasted
on characters that either feel like
repeats of previous Bourne arche-
types or underdeveloped plot points.
Jones is the typical, old CIA vil-
lain previously played by the likes
of Chris Cooper and Brian Cox.
Meanwhile, we have the typical CIA
assassin played by Vincent Cassel
(“Black Swan”) that hunts Bourne
with deadly efficiency. The pres-
ence of these figures isn’t detrimen-
tal; it’s their lack of differentiation
that makes them struggle to become
fully formed characters. They’re
merely types and are never given
the chance to define themselves in
compelling ways. Cassell’s assassin
has the inklings of a unique animos-
ity towards Bourne, but it’s even-
tually jettisoned for something far
less intriguing. The only new char-
acter that “Jason Bourne” is able to
provide some adequate layers to is
Vikander’s Lee, whose loyalties are
shifting between idealism and ambi-
tion.
Meanwhile, the film admirably
tries and mostly fails to place itself
in today’s world. With references to
Edward Snowden, a Julian Assange-
esque figure and questions about pri-
vacy in a digital age, “Jason Bourne”
attempts to be topical, but these
ideas are never elevated beyond the
passing mention or quick scene that
provide little to no commentary on
the issues the film wishes it could
address.
These
underdeveloped
ideas
extend to questions about Bourne’s
psychology. There are some decent
questions about Bourne’s purpose
and whether he can be brought back
into the CIA fold. But like most char-
acters and themes in “Jason Bourne,”
the exploration of these questions
yields few compelling answers.
While “Jason Bourne” brings back
some of the series’ biggest heavy-
hitters it fails to utilize them in ways
that breathe new life into the series,
instead falling back on well worn
tropes that are starting to lose trac-
tion. “Jason Bourne” may feel like
a potential new beginning for the
series, but it’s unable to distinguish
itself from what came before.
A time to remember:
seeing ‘Hamilton’ in NY
Experiencing the
phenomenon in the
room where it happens
By ALEX INTNER
Summer Managing Arts Editor
NEW YORK CITY — “How
could ‘Hamilton’ possibly live up
to the hype?”
That’s the question I was asking
myself as I walked into the Richard
Rodgers Theatre on Monday night.
It’s a musical that has blown up like
no other I’ve seen in the decade
I’ve been following the genre. Its
soundtrack is everywhere, resale
tickets were selling for as much
as 12 times their normal cost at
their peak, the show won 11 Tony
Awards, including Best Musical
— and it even became the first
musical ever to perform live from
its stage at the Grammy Awards.
It was impossible to tune out the
noise surrounding the show, and
nearly impossible to tune out the
actual music itself. I entered the
theater having only heard a few
songs from the musical, having
waited nine months since the
purchase of my tickets knowing
very little of what I was about to
see (besides having constantly
heard that it’s one of the best
musicals of our time).
The best thing I can say about
the experience is that it lives up
to the hype. As I’ve said before,
Hamilton rests on a premise that
shouldn’t remotely work. A hip-
hop musical about founding father
Alexander Hamilton? It sounds
ridiculous on paper. However,
Lin Manuel Miranda injects life
into these characters by giving
them songs with energy, drive
and emotion. The show moves at
a breakneck pace, telling the story
of the rise (and fall) of one of the
nation’s founding fathers.
Even though I knew the story
of the show (shocking spoiler:
Aaron
Burr
kills
Alexander
Hamilton), that didn’t mean the
show lacked stunning surprises.
There’s
nothing
like
hearing
most of this score for the first
time
with
the
accompanying
visuals,
meticulously
created
and staged by director Thomas
Kail and choreographer Andy
Blankenbuehler.
Not
only
is
“Satisfied” one of the strongest
songs in the show, but the rewind
effect between Angelica’s toast at
Alexander and her sister Eliza’s
wedding and when it plays from
Angelica’s perspective is one of
the strongest visuals in the show.
The musical also employs a double
turntable as a major part of its set,
using it to great effect as it spins
the action around the center of the
stage. As the show moves along and
duels occur, being able to keep the
action constantly moving added to
the frantic energy of the show.
Yet, a Broadway musical is
nothing without its cast, and for
the most part the cast of mostly
understudies,
alternates
and
replacements was strong. Miguel
Cervantes, who will be playing the
role of Alexander Hamilton in the
Chicago cast, was on for the lead
role, taking a few practice runs on
the Broadway stage before Chicago
rehearsals start in earnest. He
definitely has the singing voice
and rapping skills to take on the
role, as he held the show together
with the skills of a much more
seasoned actor in the lead role.
Seth Stewart was on for Marquis
Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, and
while it was weird to see the role
be played by someone who’s bald,
he had the wit and energy the
role requires. Lexi Lawson, the
permanent replacement for Eliza
seems to need more time to grow
into the role, but the seeds of how
good she’ll eventually be were
there, especially with the emotion
she brought to the song “Burn.”
The only cast member who I
found to be somewhat lacking was
Austin Smith, one of two actors
sharing the role of Aaron Burr
until Brandon Victor Dixon moves
in later this month. In the first act,
he seemed to lack passion and fire.
He showed the emotions in “Wait
for It,” but it was clear he wasn’t
actually feeling it. However in
“The Room Where it Happens,”
something must’ve woken up in
him, because he made me feel
Burr’s jealousy toward Hamilton
in a way that he hadn’t earlier in
the evening.
However, there were still a
couple members of the original
cast left. Christopher Jackson
showed me why he was nominated
for a Tony Award as George
Washington. He plays with the
role as only someone who has
spent a year-and-a-half finding the
nuances in a character can. In his
shining moment, “One Last Time,”
Washington points across the
audience saying “History has its
eyes on you.” Because of Jackson’s
delivery and all of the noise this
year’s election had brought, that
moment lands with one of the
strongest
gut-punches
of
the
evening.
Still,
eventually
the
performances I saw will fade away.
I’ll forget Cervante’s heartbreak as
Alexander’s son gets killed in a duel,
Smith’s anger in “The Room Where
it Happens,” Stewart’s sardonic
looks at the audience as Jefferson,
Lawson’s inflection as she sang
“Burn,” and Alysha Deslorieux’s
powerful belt in “Satisfied.” They’ll
disappear behind an original cast
recording I’m likely going to listen
to hundreds of times in the future.
But, I’ll never forget how those
performances made me feel. I’ll
never forget the laughs and the
tears and the fun and the beauty
that occurred in the room where it
happens.
HAMILTON
I didn’t see most of these people, but it’s ok. I’m not bitter.
C+
Jason
Bourne
Universal
Pictures
Rave & Quality 16
FILM REVIEW