As I have stated before, I am ok with movies not having sequels; sequels tend to disappoint. My biggest example of this is the Matrix series, but I digress.

When The Bourne Identity was over, I was satisfied — I did not need to see another reason to make more. Then I found out that it was actually book one of a series, so that means sequels would be coming soon.

I was disappointed in the second one, mainly due to the shaky-cam process. It hurt my eyes to watch and overall caused me to not recommend the movie. I will say that the effect is not as bad on DVD.

The story is good and so is the pacing. The DVD has the usual extras.

My advice: definitely watch before going to see The Bourne Ultimatum….

I had been putting off seeing The Bourne Ultimatum because I wanted to make time to refresh my memory of The Bourne Identity and the Bourne Supremacy.  I finally took some time last Sunday to have my own Bourne marathon.

The Bourne Identity took some time to build an audience when it was released in theaters.  A lot of people did not believe that Matt Damon could be a believable action hero — those parts belonged to his best budd, Ben Affleck.  After watching The Bourne Identity, you get a sense that Damon could play any type of part he sets his mind to.

The movie starts off with a rescue at sea, as amnesiac Damon tries to piece together who he is.   As he finds answers, it leads to more danger and more questions.  His female companion is apropos for the movie — she is not your typical Bond sexpot.  Together, they have a chemistry that grows — that helps the story remain rooted in reality.

For an action movie, there is not much willing suspension of disbelief required.  Except for a couple of stunts, an audience member could do the same things with training.  The story is kept simple and, despite the twists that appear, has a comfortable linear progression.

The DVD has the usual extras.

My advice:  see it.  If you miss this movie, you are doing yourself a disservice.

Anybody who loves movies is familiar with the term “B-movie.”  Usually it refers to those movies that are not very good, but are high on the “cheese” factor.  Back in the day, theaters would play the bad movies as part of a double feature — the B selection.  We see this mirrored in the days of vinyl with 45-records having the hit on the A-side and another song on the B-side.

Since the early 90’s, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell have teamed up to make some memorable B-movies (Evil Dead).  Even into the 2000’s, Bruce Campbell seemed to relish being able to camp it up a bit on screen and TV.  So it was a no-brainer for him to take on the role of Elvis for a movie about a mummy spirit invading a rest home.  Ossie Davis, in his final screen appearance, plays a black JFK and provides the right chemistry to be Bruce’s sidekick.

A lot of the movie deals with Elvis’s thoughts and backstory — this could have been eliminated to add more danger from the monster.  The monster only got 2 people and was never on-screen long enough to make me fear that he might destroy everything.  What saves this movie is the relationship and the action sequences at the end.

The DVD features the normal extras, with the following bonuses:

• Commentary by Elvis, in addition to the director
• Music videos
• a leather Elvis jumpsuit sleeve for the case

My advice: if you like Bruce Campbell, check it out; otherwise, be prepared for it to be slow in a lot of places…