"BOURNE" Franchise Head Scratchers
"BOURNE" FRANCHISE HEAD SCRATCHERS
Ever since its release back in 2007, movie critics and many fans have been in rapture over "THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM", the third film in the BOURNE movie franchise. Some have declared it as the franchise's best film. And one particular critic had named the first three movies released between 2002 and 2007 as "the best Hollywood film trilogy ever made".
Now, as much as I have enjoyed the BOURNE movies, I do not think I would go that far. I do consider most of the franchise's films - aside from the 2016 movie, "JASON BOURNE" - to be among my favorite action films. But do I regard the franchise as the best? Hmmmm . . . no. In fact, following my recent viewing of the franchise's all five films, I have noticed some plot lines that left me scratching my head.
Shutting Down Treadstone
Following the failure to kill amnesiac Treadstone operative, Jason Bourne, C.I.A. Section Chief Ward Abbott ordered the shutdown of Operation Treadstone in "THE BOURNE IDENTITY". And he did this by ordering one of program's assassins, Jarda, to kill Alexander Conklin. The latter served as Special Activities Division Coordinator and Chief of European Operations for the C.I.A. He also served as head of the field operations for the Treadstone operatives. However, Abbott did not bother to have the surviving agents associated with Treadstone killed - including Jarda, Logistics Coordinator Nicky Parsons; and Danny Zorn, who had served as Conklin's assistant. Not even those who were associated with training and conditioning Treadstone's field agents - including Dr. Albert Hirsch, who had helped design the training for both Operation Treadstone and Operation Blackbriar, and served as medical director for Operation Outcome. I do not know if this was a failure on filmmaker Tony Gilroy's part or deliberate.
Treadstone Assassins - Manheim and Jarda
When I had first seen 2004's "THE BOURNE SUPREMACY" in the movie theaters, I had assumed the German-born Treadstone operative in this movie, Jarda, was the same German-born operative who had killed Alexander Conklin in "THE BOURNE IDENTITY". Well, I was wrong. Apparently, they were two different men. The 2002 movie had identified three other Treadstone assasins other than Bourne operating in Europe - the Professor, Castel and Manheim. Out of all of them, Manheim was the only one who had survived by the film's end. Yet two years later in "SUPREMACY", Bourne met Jarda, who had claimed they were the only two Treadstone operatives left. What in the hell happened to Manheim? He had survived the events of "IDENTITY", yet he was dead two years later? How did he died? And how did Jarda pop up as one of the original Treadstone field assassins in the first place?
I also have another question regarding Jarda. How did Bourne find out about him? Hell, how did Bourne know where to find him? When did he have the opportunity to get his hands on the files of Treadstone's European operatives? He certainly was not able to do so by the finale of "IDENTITY". Nicky had been in the process of destroying the files when Bourne and Conklin had their showdown. And I do not see how Bourne had learned about the identities of the other Treadstone operatives, following his conversation with Conklin and the fight that followed. Judging from his conversation with the Professor before the latter's death, the latter did not seem familiar with Bourne. And in "SUPREMACY", Bourne had no opportunity to learn the names and locations of his fellow Treadstone operatives. So, how did he find out about Jarda?
Nicky Parson's Comments About Her Past With Bourne
In "THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM", Nicky Parsons had hinted of some past relationship between her and Bourne that had left her emotionally shaken. A relationship that the amnesiac Bourne naturally did not remember. All I can say is . . . WHAT THE HELL? Since when did those two ever had a relationship? I am aware that both Bourne and Nicky were stationed in Paris before his failed attempt on the deposed Nigerian dictator Nykwanna Wombosi had failed and left him with amnesia in "IDENTITY". But recalling Nicky's reaction to Bourne near the end of that film, I never got the impression that they had enjoyed any past intimacy with each other. At least not from Nicky. Nor did I ever got the impression that she harbored feelings for him. Her reaction to Bourne near the end of "IDENTITY" seemed to be the same as her reaction to the Professor after their brief meeting . . . namely trepidation. Nor did Nicky bring up any past intimacy between her and Bourne in "SUPREMACY". Instead, Nicky had immediately agreed with Abbott that Bourne needed to be killed in the 2004 movie. She had also sheer terror when Bourne had kidnapped her in "SUPREMACY" in order to learn more about Treadstone and C.I.A. Deputy Director Pamela Landry. I get the feeling that screenwriters Tony Gilroy and Scott Z. Burns had added this little tidbit in "ULTIMATUM" to set the stage for a possible romance between Bourne and Nicky in future films. Since any romance never materialized between the pair, I found this revelation a cheap shot.
CIA Directors - Martin Marshall and Ezra Kramer
Confusion really seemed to reign over the roles of the two C.I.A. Directors featured in the films - Martin Marshall and Ezra Cramer. Martin Marshall was briefly mentioned as the C.I.A. Director in "IDENTITY". Audiences finally got to see him in the flesh in "SUPREMACY", two years later. Yet, a new C.I.A. Director appeared in "ULTIMATUM", set six weeks after the events of "SUPREMACY", as one Ezra Kramer. What in the hell happened to Marshall during those six weeks? Someone had claimed that perhaps he got fired for what happened in Berlin at the beginning of the second film. Frankly, this made no sense to me. The Berlin operation was big enough to get Pamela Landy in trouble, but certainly not Marshall. And he was still Director of the C.I.A. by the film's end. So . . . why did the filmmakers bother to replace Marshall with Kramer with no explanation whatsoever? I thought Kramer's ascension as Director would be explained in "LEGACY". It was not.
Noah Vosen
There are aspects of the Noah Vosen character from "ULTIMATUM" and 2012's "THE BOURNE LEGACY" that I found perplexing. One, Ward Abbott had created Operation Blackbriar near the end of "IDENTITY" - at least two years before the events of "SUPREMACY", "ULTIMATUM" and "LEGACY". Yet, Ezra Kramer (who was not in "IDENTITY" or "SUPREMACY") was the one who had assigned the program to Noah Vosen. Not Marshall, but Kramer. How odd. Does this mean that during that six-weeks period between "SUPREMACY" and "ULTIMATUM", Vosen had initiated Operation Blackbriar? Judging from the number of case files inside Vosen's safe, I rather doubt it. The program already had to be in operation before and during the events of "SUPREMACY". When Marshall was still the C.I.A. Director. I have one last question regarding Noah Vosen. Why did he manage the Blackbriar program out of an office in New York City and not the C.I.A. Headquarters in Langley, Virginia? Why New York City? Abbott and Conklin operated the Treadstone program from Langley. So . . . set Vosen's office in New York? I suspect that screenwriter Tony Gilroy wanted to ensure that Bourne would have an opportunity to gain access to Vosen's office and steal the latter's files? That is the only explanation I have for this setting.
Pamela Landry's Fate
"THE BOURNE SUPREMACY" introduced the character of C.I.A. Deputy Director Pamela Landy. She spent most of the 2004 movie investigating the death of a Russian politician named Vladimir Neski and his knowledge about the theft of missing C.I.A. funds. In the following film, Noah Vosen - with Ezra Kramer's advice - had recruited her help to track down Bourne and find out who had leaked information to the press about Operations Blackbriar and Treadstone. The 2007 film also revealed that unbeknownst to Landy, they had plans to frame her for treason if the Blackbriar program was exposed to the Senate and the press. "THE BOURNE LEGACY" saw Vosen and Kramer's plans come to fruition as suspicion fell upon Landry for "illegally" exposing the Blackbriar program. I had assumed that the next film in the franchise would reveal not only Landry's fate, but also the fates of Vosen and Kramer. It did not. Instead, 2016's "JASON BOURNE" focused on the history of the Treadstone program and Bourne's family. So . . . what happened to Landry?
The Webb Family-Robert Dewey Connection
The franchise's last film, "JASON BOURNE", introduced a new nemesis for the Bourne character. A decade after the events of "ULTIMATUM" and "LEGACY" saw Robert Dewey as the most recent Director of the C.I.A. Screenwriters of the 2016 film conveyed the idea that not only was Dewey was Bourne's latest antagonist, but also the overall antagonist of the franchise. The overall antagonist? How? The movie revealed that Richard Webb, father of David Webb aka Jason Bourne, was the actual creator of the Treadstone assassination program. Apparently, Dewey was the C.I.A. agent who had recruited David into the program. Webb Senior wanted to prevent this particular recruitment. Before he could stop David's recruitment, he was killed by an agency assassin ("The Asset" from the 2016 film) to ensure his son's recruitment.
In other words, Dewey had a top C.I.A. analyst murdered so that he could recruit the latter's son into Treadstone. And the C.I.A. never learned of this? Also, this act was supposed to label Dewey as the franchise's main antagonist? If Robert Dewey had been the one recruiting agents for the Treadstone program, why did Alexander Conklin end up managing the program . . . under Ward Abbott's supervision?
"The Asset"
Here is another piece of what I believe is contrived writing involving Robert Dewy. His personal shooter from the 2016 film was "The Asset" - the same assassin he had ordered to kill Richard Webb.
"The Asset" also ended up as an operative of another agency assassination program - Operation Blackbriar from "ULTIMATUM". Blackbriar had been created by Abbott and managed by Noah Vosen, under Director Kramer's authority. How did Dewey managed to get his own personal assassin into the program? And if Dewey had been recruiting assassins for Operation Treadstone, why did he not recruit "The Asset" into that particular program?
Of all the five movies in the series, the only one that began production before the script could be completed turned out to be "THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM". Considering that most of my issues with the franchise came from the 2007 movie, I am not surprised. And as much as I like the "BOURNE" movies, I find it hard to believe that they are the best action thrillers in the past decade or so. Mind you, I do not regard "ULTIMATUM" as the worst of the franchise. For me, that honor goes to 2016's "JASON BOURNE". But I find it difficult to accept the current belief that "ULTIMATUM" was the best film in the "BOURNE" film franchise, let alone the best action film of 2007.
