Bourne Supremacy is a wrap. As was the case with Identity the movie diverged from the book in major ways. What began to strike me, however, was the way that it stayed true to the theme of the book. Although Russia in the movie replaces China, the "big bad" in each case has the same MO and level of access. I still think that the movies went a wise route in cutting Jason Bourne off from the CIA and making his life one of running instead of teaching.
Partially this change was created by the age factor. In the books, Bourne starts in late middle age and runs quickly toward early old age. The switch to Matt Damon made the "old" Bourne a no-go and created a younger face for the franchise. It also helped to cut out the family man aspect of the books. This made the movies much more exciting to watch and faster paced.
The books in turn benefited from the older Bourne. Ludlum's Bourne wrote better about Bourne as he made him older and more of a family man. In Bourne Supremacy Ludlum's Bourne is altogether more readable than he was in Identity. I'll follow up on this theme in my review on Bourne Ultimatum, but briefly, as Bourne became more like Ludlum the writing of his character became more and more nuanced. As these details increased, Bourne as a character became more and more readable.
1 comment:
I feel like I've read at least one Bourne book, but I'm fairly certain I'm mistaking Ludlum for LeCarre.
I enjoyed the first Bourne movie.
My list:
(just finished) Wild Cards 3: Jokers Wild, edited by George RR Martin. Adolescent sci-fi shared world fiction, you still get me.
(next up) Lawrence, a biography of TE Lawrence (of Arabia). I would be reading Revolt in the Desert by Lawrence himself, but lent it out.
(after that) A stack of books - Joe R. Lansdale, the conspiracy guy who wrote The Men Who Stare At Goats, and Greetings from Planet China (I think that's the title. My buddy worked at the library for a while and has a lot of advanced reader copies.)
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