The thoroughly disappointing scene in The Bourne Identity
SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MATT DAMON FILM, THE BOURNE IDENTITY, STOP READING. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.
In all Hollywood thrillers, there’s a certain suspension of belief the audience is expected to give. And in every movie, there are gaffes, missteps, and mistakes. But the one scene in The Bourne Identity that has always, and continues, with subsequent viewings, to bother me, is the one at the farmhouse, the confrontation between Jason Bourne and Clive Owen’s character, the Professor.
The plot points us to the Professor being one of Bourne’s equals. They’re both from the Treadstone project. They’re both “super weapons” of a kind. They’re both highly trained, and highly skilled. When Eamon’s dog is missing, and Jason realizes a killer is out there waiting for him, he does what we expect him to do: take the fight to the killer. It’s here the writers take the easy way out.
If the Professor was as highly skilled and as highly trained as we’ve been led to believe up to this point Treadstone agents are, he would never do the following:
- Give up the high ground.
- Give up the quiet shooting ability of the suppressor on his SIG 55x rifle.
- Give up the superior range and firepower of the SIG 55x rifle for a backup pistol.
Jason doesn’t know the Professor’s location. Given the layout of the farmhouse and the surrounding area, he suspects, but he doesn’t know. When he runs out into the trees from the farmhouse, the Professor attempts a shot, and after missing, decides to come down from his perch on the hill? Why give up the high ground, and the sun behind you? Your target is still below you, still within range, just hidden in the trees. Shift your position, attempt to reacquire, but you DON’T COME DOWN FROM ON HIGH.
And as he gives up the high ground, he simultaneously gives up sound suppression on a firearm? Jason Bourne may be the best Treadstone produced, but he still wouldn’t be able to track the shots by sound, even if he suspected the Professor’s hide at the top of the hill. Not at that range.
Finally, after coming down from the hill, the Professor inexplicably takes the only sighting device on the rifle off—why no iron sight backups? He then decides, as the birds Jason sent into flight with a shotgun blast whirl noisily about, to put down the weapon that could reach to any edge of the big clearing they’re in, and take up a small pistol with a more limited range and fewer available rounds.
I just can’t buy it. The film’s technical advisor(s) really let the production down in this area, and allowed the writers a cheap and easy way out to put down the other Treadstone agent on Jason’s trail. Way, way easier than it should have been. At least Castel lost a straight-up, one-on-one fight with Bourne. It is, for me, a thoroughly disappointing scene in an otherwise enjoyable (if imperfect) action thriller.
I’m glad this story is getting this sort of wide exposure, even if it’s at the hands of Michael Bay.
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This is, unquestionably, the greatest moment I’ve ever read in any piece of Star Wars media. It shook me to the core going through this panel-by-panel on ComiXology. Holy. Shit. So. Good.
A Quick History of the Royal Corgis, the Favored Dog Breed of Queen Elizabeth II
CORGIS WERE VIKING DOGS!!!
Hacked Security Cam Footage of George R.R. Martin Working Hard On His New ‘Game of Thrones’ Book
None of these would surprise me in the least.
Of course, we all know the real reason Martin isn’t finishing books is that he’s spending too much time at his refurbished movie theater in downtown Santa Fe…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auUxD3Qe3FU?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=250&h=141]
Remarkable POV Footage Captured by a GoPro Camera Attached to the Dorsal Fin of a Hammerhead Shark
by Denis Hotte
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTNJ51ghzdY?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=250&h=141]
A Special Comic-Con Behind-The-Scenes Look at ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’
I will not get my hopes up. I will not get my hopes up. I will not get my hopes up. I will not get my hopes up…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WWzgGyAH6Y?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=250&h=141]
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Comic-Con Trailer [HD]
Still not as excited about this as my inner nerd should be. I know some of the source material it draws from, and the suck potential in translating that to the new DC cinematic universe is high.
philnoto:Just announced- My pal Gerry Duggan and I will bringing a Chewbacca mini-series to you starting in October. Rawwwrrrrrr!!!BEST NEWS! CANT WAIT FOR A BEAUTIFUL ANGULAR CHEWIE
Beer, well respected and rightly consumed, can be a gift of God. It is one of his mysteries, which it was his delight to conceal and the glory of kings to search out. And men enjoy it to mark their days and celebrate their moments and stand with their brothers in the face of what life brings.
This timeline of the history of the USS Enterprise from Star Trek is our new fave GIF.
