They are normally not to my taste. But I was in the mood recently to re-watch my set of Jason Bourne movies. And I suddenly realized that I basically like three kinds of action movies. (Possibly my definition of action movies there, not someone else’s.)
Now, I’ve never been big on spy movies although I have enjoyed the random James Bond. Well, okay, kind of enjoyed them. Right up until I reached the point that I wanted to beat Bond over the head with something. I’m also really not crazy about the shoot-em up, blow’em up variety although I do have the Die-Hard collection somewhere around here. And occasionally even re-watch them.
However give me any of the following and I’m quite happy.
martial arts
Just make sure it’s not that ballet looking stuff. Think Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan or Jet Li. Or just put the last two in a movie together. Actually one of my favorite movies, Forbidden Kingdom, has both Chan & Li in it. And of course it’s more fantasy/mythology than martial arts. So double win.
In my defense, though, I have all of the Bruce Lee movies. For research purposes. Yeah, that was the reason I got them.
kaiju (super monsters)
Or is that daikaiju? I never know when to use daikaiju. But I’m talking about any random monster that could destroy the world. More of less. Think Godzilla or King Kong. Or put them together. The more the merrier. Oh, and I love Mothra. It’s the butterfly lover in me even though I know she is a moth. Sort of. So, yeah, an entire movie night was devoted to Godzilla: King of the Monsters last year.
car chases
Which brings us back to Jason Bourne and the reason for this post. Basically I think of the Bourne movies as one big car chase/demolition derby with breaks for mixed martial arts fights. They’re like watching martial arts done with cars.
Heh.
One of the huge bonuses of the Bourne trilogy collection, though, is his search for his true identity. It’s a powerful story arc. I think my favorite is Bourne Ultimatum but I always end up watching all three once I start.
