Escape to the Movies
This past weekend I went and saw The Bourne Ultimatum, and like the previous installments I loved it. Unlike other action movies, you need to keep your brain turned on for the Bourne series or you’ll get lost in the story. Regretfully, the story does end with the rolling of the credits and the trademark Moby song and then I have to drag my carcass back into the real world.
What is it about going to the movies that so excites us? For me, and I think a lot of other moviegoers, it dates back to our childhood when someone told us a story and then we imagined that we were there with its characters. For those of you who love movies like Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and my favorite The Matrix don’t you wish in the back of your mind that you could actually be one of the characters? It’s not that we hate who we are, but that the drama on the screen is so much more exciting. I think becoming Neo for a day would be quite a rush.
Other than Neo’s single day at work where he’s reprimanded for being late, we don’t see him hunched over the dinner table paying bills; chauffeuring the kids to school; changing the car’s engine oil; or mowing the lawn. He’s out defeating Agent Smiths and learning Kung Fu.
Going to the movies is our escape from reality. For just a few short hours, we are transported to another place and perhaps even another time. The movie may make us laugh, cry, scream, cheer, or jeer, but whatever emotion is stirred within us it helps to dissolve the concerns we left at the door.
on August 20th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Absolutely fantastic. Saw it just yesterday (Sunday 8/19/07) with the wife and kids. Yes, the kids (2 out of 3) also came to see it. A little intense at times for my youngest, but he loved it nonetheless. I might even go so far as to say it was the best of the three. Being only slightly less than the first one.
on August 20th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Glad to hear the youngest got to go too. That reminds me that Uncle Barry promised to lean on you to let the youngest watch the Matrix.
on August 21st, 2007 at 11:23 am
Yeah, I’m not sure about the Matrix. I think I’ll have to watch it again before he gets to see that one. The “theater experience” of the Bourne Ultimatum was almost too much for him. Obviously, home viewing is always much less intense.
on August 28th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
After too long of an absence from the movies, my husband and I chose the Bourne Ultimatum to reacquaint ourselves with the theatre. It was a winner! If all movies could be this rewarding, we’d venture out into the cinema more often. We definitely go for the drama and not the food.
on August 29th, 2007 at 7:37 am
Agreed. The Bourne Ultimatum is one of the few sequel movies worth seeing.
Thanks for the comment.
on September 22nd, 2007 at 7:32 pm
I have the first two on HD DVD, and I kept myself out of the theater so I could see it fresh on HD DVD this December. Really looking forward to it, the first two were great, and I’m not much of a Damon fan.