Jason Bourne

Direction: Paul Greengrass; Lead Cast: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones; Story: based on characters by Robert Ludlum ; Screenplay: Paul Greengrass, Christopher Rouse; Cinematography: Ackroyd; Editing: Christopher Rouse; Music: John Powell; Producers: Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner Genre: Action, Thriller: Location: various European countries and US; Distributor: Universal Pictures; Running Time:120 minutes

Technical asssessment: 3

Moral assessment: 2

CINEMA rating: V14

Nicky Parsons (Stiles) breaks into an Iceland facility and hacks the CIA mainframe to expose its BlackOps programs. She copies several file evidence about Jason Bourne’s (Damon) past but not without alerting CIA cyber ops head Heather Lee (Vikander) who plants a Malware in the stolen files. Lee discovers Parson’s identity and links her to Jason Bourne, now living in isolation as an underground fighter in Greece. She then informs CIA director Robert Dewey (Jones) about it and they oversee several attempts to retrieve the files and kill Parsons and Bourne. Before Parson dies, she passes the key to a luggage locker where she kept the encrypted files. Bourne travels to Berlin to have the files decrypted and discovers that his father was former CIA personnel who created one of the BlackOps program. Through protracted flashbacks, he remembers how his father was killed in Beirut. Meanwhile, the Malware planted by Lee gives away his location and allows her to remotely erase the files. Believing she can convince Bourne to return to the agency and not exactly agreeing with Dewey’s decisions, Lee decides to help Bourne escape to earn his trust. When Bourne finally pieces together the real story behind his father’s death and his recruitment, he decides to seek revenge and travel to Vegas to confront Dewey. In Vegas, Dewey is preparing for a public debate against Social Media mogul and creator of Deep Dream Aaron Kaloor (Ahmed) who wants to let off his deal to betray the privacy of his users to the CIA in the guise of national security. Dewey, shrewd as ever, plans to have both Kaloor and Lee assassinated but Bourne arrives in time to thwart the attempt.

If it’s non-stop heart pounding action you want, its non-stop heart pounding action you get. Jason Bourne delivers its promise to keep breathless audiences at the edge of their seat for two hours as they follow the characters all around the world. Ackroyd brilliantly uses tight handheld-like shots to convey urgency and tension. The engagement would not have been achieved if traditional framing was used. Master scorer John Powell accentuates the dynamism of the non-verbal script. The director-editor teaming up to develop the screenplay pays off with such tight, fast-paced editing. Damon and Jones complement each other as cold hearted nemesis accentuated by Vincent Cassel’s eerie presence and Vikander’s calculating genius. The casting is seamless and the performances commendable. Now, while non-fans of the Bourne franchise may be temporarily mesmerized by the complicated but well visualized storyline until they realize its absurdity, fans who followed the four previous films may find this film dry, repetitive and unnecessary. None of the characters have any real motivation. There are too many subplots. And whatever wow factor it has technically may not totally make up for what it lacks in content and development.

We can try to nitpick some messages the film unconsciously delivered. First, trust is not gained by trying to win another person’s favor by pledging false support. In the end, the real motivations will be revealed.  Truth, no matter how much you try to bury or hide, will always be uncovered and discovered. Second, a subtle issue about personal privacy and national security is a real serious point to be considered. When should privacy be given up? While it seems a cheap commodity now that social media have converted everyone into instant publishers raring to get their 30 seconders of fame regardless of the risk, giving every other institution the right to abuse and exploit the naivete of willing social media users. The film totally disregards the value of life. Murder is committed at the blink of an eye. Violence peppers every scene. The movie is not suitable for the young.

Star Trek Beyond

DIRECTOR:  Justin Lin  LEAD CAST:  John Cho, Simon Pegg. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba  SCREENWRITER: Simon Pegg, Doug Jung  PRODUCER: J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Roberto Orci  EDITOR: Greg D'Auria, Dylan Highsmith, Kelly Matsumoto, Steven Sprung  MUSICAL DIRECTOR:  Michael Giacchino GENRE: Science Fiction/Action  CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Stephen Windon  DISTRIBUTOR: Paramount Pictures  LOCATION: USA/China  RUNNING TIME: 122 minutes

Technical assessment: 3

Moral assessment: 3

CINEMA rating: PG13

MTRCB rating: PG

The USS Enterprise is on its third year in a five-year mission of exploring outer space when Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) starts to doubt his purpose in the mission and is feeling restless. Meanwhile, Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto) is reassessing the role he plays in the survival of the Vulcan people. But all these issues take a backseat temporarily when the Enterprise receives a call of distress from somewhere to which they have to come to rescue. There, they are attacked by a stronger force leaving the Enterprise damaged beyond repair. The entire crew is separated and stranded on an unknown planet ruled by an evil warlord who seems to have a deep-seated grudge against the Federation.

The third installment of the newly revived Star Trek franchise, Star Trek Beyond could be considered as the most entertaining of the three. Characters are fun to watch and most of their motivations are clearly staged. However, in its entirety, the film suffers from a weak villain Krall who’s not threatening enough, making the film quite predictable. Star Trek fanatics can easily track down and recognize plans and pay-offs in the film as they effortlessly relate events and decode jargons. Non-fans may be a bit alienated and find it hard to catch-up, but with the solid structure of the story, they would easily feel the characters as the film progresses, given the centrality of the theme and the ample time devoted to character development. This particular installment has a distinct style of its own that is not necessarily like the first two movies. The CGI is also impressive, as well as the entire cast’s performance. As a spectacle, the Star Trek Beyond experience is still very much enjoyable. 

Central to this “ship-of-fools” sci-fi is camaraderie and the battle between good and evil that goes beyond skin deep. Star Trek Beyond celebrates unity in diversity—the crew, particularly, Capt. Kirk, Commander Spock, Dr. Bones, Scotty, and the rest, are different from one another with their own issues to grapple with, and yet, when it comes to achieving their goal as a league, personal differences never get in the way. For teamwork to succeed, several hands are not enough, instead, members of the team should endeavor to put aside personal interests and work as one mind to achieve the common good. Commander Spock’s optimism shines through in the story—left in the midst of rubble, disconcerted Captain Kirk says, “We got no ship, no crew, how're going to get out of this one?” But beyond the shadow of doubt, Commander Spock responded with, “We will find hope in the impossible”.  For the common good and for the sake of saving the planet, characters of diverse interests come together in the film which sets a good example to the young audiences. In the end, good triumphs over evil. However, it cannot be denied that the film is not devoid of violence, albeit bloodless, thus, parents should guide children aged 13 and below in viewing such images.

Ignacio de Loyola

Direction: Paolo Dy;  Lead cast: Andreas Muñoz, Javier Godino, Julio Perillan, Lucas Fuica; Screenplay: Paolo Dy; Story: Paolo and Cathy Azanzy Dy, Pauline Mangilog-Saltarin, Emmanual Alfonso, SJ; Cinematography: Lee Meily Briones; Editing: Marya Ignacio; Producer: Pauline Mangilog-Saltarin, Ernestine Tamana; Music: Ryan Cayabyab; Location: Spain; Genre: Drama; Distributor: Jesuit Communications Philippines  (JESCOM);  Running Time:120 minutes

Technical assessment: 3.5

Moral assessment: 3.5

CINEMA rating: V13

MTRCB rating: PG13

The movie opens with Iñigo de Loyola (Andreas) at the crossroads of his conversion and then we are taken into his childhood and the final battle where he is badly injured and forced to retire. As a soldier, he seeks worldly pleasure and selfish honor. He equates his value with his prowess, nobility and chivalry. So when he loses them, he loses the desire to live until he reads the stories of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic, and Jesus which inspires him to give up everything and change his ways. He develops a unique form of prayer, now known as the Spiritual Exercises. But this catches the attention of the very conservative Church. Iñigo is tried by the Church Tribunal for heresy and preaching without authority. People who were touched or found his ways repulsive, who loved and followed him as well as those who hated and maybe envied him, are called to testify. How much will he give up to fight for his new found faith?

The problem with movies with so much hype is the corresponding level of expectation it creates. JESCOM’s Ignacio de Loyola—which has a Spanish cast and was filmed in Spain at the sites where the historic events took place—had the proper amount of build up months before it was shown in the big screen, so the question after watching it is “Did it deliver?”

Undoubtedly, Ignacio is like a painting brought to life with the quality of shots and expressiveness of the lighting. These brought to life the artistry of the costumes and location which just emphasizes the painstaking intelligence that came with it. Cayabyab’s scoring was remarkable—not necessarily unique—but in the context of the grandiosity of the film, it more than worked. Andreas is a soulful performer. He is gracious as a valiant soldier and authentic in his struggle to fight for what he believes in. This alone makes the film a worthy competitor of any epic Hollywood film. On the other hand, the computer generated images and screen replacements were not seamless as we would have wanted them to be. The sky and mountain in some scenes look too fantasy inspired. The battle scenes with the thousand French soldiers look manipulated. At this point, we wished the producers had a bigger budget so they could have shot everything live instead of relying on post production work because it is so strong visually. One other jarring visual is the contrast of image quality between the scenes shot in Spain and the one shot in the Philippines (one of the scenes towards the end). The former had so much depth that the latter felt off.

We have to give it to Dy who brilliantly collapses the highlights of Ignacio’s life into two hours and makes him relatable to every other person who has fallen and risen. While we would have liked to see more contrast in his before-and-after character, we respect the director’s subtlety. The script is elitist and had too many words although the words pierce the heart and imprint valuable messages.  Dy also masterfully intersperses action with narration during the witnesses’ testimonies in the court scene.  However, action shots could have replaced close-ups of Andreas because after some time, no matter how lovely his face is, it gets repetitive.  

Every person can change. Every person should be given a chance to discover that God is alive in everyone. And every person must be given the liberty to express love and service regardless of whether this follows tradition or culture. Because when the person changes, discovers God and finds his path to love and serve, he will give up everything. The story of Iñigo (Ignacio) resonates other saints who changed: Paul, Augustine, Mary Magdalene, Angela of Foligno, Dismas, the Thief. But what makes his story stand out is the intensity of Ignacio’s desire to dedicate himself to serving God through every person in need. He saw God in the faces of the sick, poor, neglected and in turn he brought God to them.

So we go back to the question: does Ignacio de Loyola deliver?  Does it live up to all its hype (which includes the distinction of being the first Filipino film to have been shown at the Vatican)?  Of course, it does, and it would be such a shame if it gets pulled out of mainstream cinema because viewers supported formula films instead of the Filipino opus that bravely stepped up to raise the quality of production and showed it can be done.