The Brave And The Bond

The Bourne Ultimatum, set to open on Friday, has been getting a lot of press of late.

On the Entertainment Weekly website, for example. the question is posed: The new ''Bourne'': How will it do?

I wonder if the answer to that query will be impacted at all by this item:

David German of the Associated Press recently asked the film's star Matt Damon to compare his Jason Bourne character to that of super agent James Bond.

Bond is “an imperialist and he’s a misogynist. He kills people and laughs and sips martinis and wisecracks about it,” Damon said.

"Bourne is this paranoid guy. He's on the run. He's not the government; the government is after him. He's a serial monogamist who's in love with his dead girlfriend and can't stop thinking about her. He's the opposite of James Bond."

Paul Greengrass, Damon’s director on the sequel and its 2004 predecessor, “The Bourne Supremacy,” agreed that Bond is a relic from a different era.

“He’s an insider. He likes being a secret agent. He worships at the altar of technology. He loves his gadgets. And he embodies this whole set of misogynistic values,” Greengrass said. “He likes violence. That’s part of the appeal of the character. He has no guilt. He’s essentially an imperial adventurer of a particularly English sort.

“Personally, I spit on those values. I think we’ve moved on a little bit from all that, the martini shaken, not stirred.”

Read the complete article here...

Wow! I know Damon and Greengrass have to plug their wares and these Bond comments helped to spur that process along. But to say " I spit on those values"...That's a bit harsh only serves to potentially alienate Bond fans who like the Bourne films. Sure Bond's a bit lighter on his feet overall...But I don't remember new guy Daniel Craig doing a whole lot of quipping while working his way through Casino Royale. The Bond in that film is much closer to that of author Ian Fleming's original intent of the character.

While I would agree that Bond has done things in his previous adventures that by today's standards may seem silly or cartoonish--nothing he did seemed out of date for its time though.

And guys I hate to rain on your parade, but just like any Bond flick, suspension of disbelief is required when watching a Bourne flick too. In today's world people still hunger for heroes whether they be fictional or real--And 007 fits the bill and archetype in every way.

Bond's been doing his thing for 45 years on the big screen and I would take any actor who's played him over Damon as Bourne. Let's face it, even in his mid-70s, Sean Connery could still kick Damon's ass