The Bourne Legacy

On Location: Manila, Philippines

Quoted lines are from the movie script.

What are movies for if not to have

the good guys triumph over the bad ones? - Margaret Carlson

Deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. It is the official awesome-I-can’t-even-believe-it movie that's hunkier than Matt Damon.

The Bourne Legacy. 

It stars Hurt Locker Macho Man Jeremy Renner as black ops agent Aaron Cross. Have you watched it yet? It was shot on location in Manila.

What do you think?

Aaron had me at, Sh... as he bounds out of the blue onto Bocobo street in Malate, Manila. Alongside is biochemist Marta. They're in the city to buy the blue pills needed for Aaron's intelligence enhancement.

All seems to be quiet except for the rustle of the wind, a plastic cup rattling on the parking lot. But there's a restlessness rippling across like dead leaves on a breeze. Sure enough, you haven’t even buckled your seat belt yet, and the action already starts.

Non-stop.

First, there's the Manila policemen. At their heels besides is the secret intelligence agency. It’s time to run.

Are you ready?

Are you in?

Oh, good. Me, too. I have no idea how much the challenge and hardships will be nor what lies ahead on the road, but I'm in.

Did I just say, What lies ahead on the road? I misspoke. It should have been, What's up above the city rooftops? For that's where Aaron starts running around.

Can you even?

There are mountains you are meant to climb and challenges you are meant to overcome and obstacles you are meant to conquer, but I draw the line on rooftops. 

I yell at him, Marta and I will be down here, but we're with you.

A member of the CIA team is now also in pursuit. He whispers, They can’t get far. If he didn’t viral out, he’s gonna run out of brain. And if he did, then he’s gonna be too sick to move. So we just have to find him fast, and kill him, once and for all.

This is the part where you might get discouraged, partly because of the double gonnas. You might say something like this…..

... ARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH.

I know, right?

Don’t lose heart.

Now that we're all back on street level, I'm sure we got this. I know my way around the dusty tracks of the San Andres neighborhood. It is not yet noon, but already the sun is hot. Through here, I instruct Aaron and Marta in a long breath, as we run across broad dirt roads. 

We need to split, Aaron strategizes. And what does he do? He jumps from a footbridge onto the top of a bus on the Pasay-Taft Rotonda. What can I tell you? He's a fearless aerial daredevil.

Later rejoining us, I hear him inhale a stuttering breath. Thai operative Larx-03. Assassin. 

A new threat... when will it end? 

The pursuit continues along Magsaysay Boulevard. Riding a motorcycle, Aaron instructs Marta, his voice dropping, Hang on tight, follow me. Okay? Stay with me. I follow them with my eyes as they ride off inside the Marikina wet market. 

Have you ever been? There are too many people, too many peddlers. The air is hot with stench and crackling with flies and the noise is overwhelming. 

The assassin shoots Aaron, hitting him in the shoulder. Marta says in a hoarse voice, You’ve been shot! (Aside: Obvi.) Pull over! 

The motorcycle skids as it reaches the Navotas fish port. I run fast to their succor. But in true heroic fashion, just before Aaron loses consciousness, he manages to shoot the assassin and knock him off his bike.

Regardless, the latter continues to chase them through a deserted building near the docks. I'm breathlessly following on foot.

And then? It happens. As the assassin gets close to them, Marta kicks LARX-03's bike.

Way to go, girl! As his motorcycle crashes into a pillar, she shoots a triumphant look at Aaron.

All that running, all that shooting is finally over. What else is there to do? 

Ride away to freedom on a boat.

Destination: the white-sand beaches and coral reefs of El Nido in Palawan. (Disclosure: This isn't a sponsored post.)

Aaron is perusing a map and heying her as she sits at his side. (Aside: I'm thinking that this is where I need to leave, but I'm curious. I already know there's a forthcoming romantic angle, and I'd like to see it.)

She heys back at him with a polite nod and asks, Are we lost?

Are you sighing in anticipation? I can mouth the exact words of Aaron's answer, No, I was just looking at our options.

And the heart-melting response from Marta? (Wait for it...) 

Mmm. I was kind of hoping we were lost.

I'm relishing Aaron's delicious smile at her. He rolls up the map, puts it away, and they both gaze at the endless vista of a monotonously blue cloudless sky.

Isn't life just like the movies?

Where you do, or do not. There is no try.

Where you become the dreamers of dreams.

Where what you seek lies in front of you. As does what you fear.

And where adventure beckons.

It's just life and cinema. They will be over before you know it.

THE END
Until next time! For now, the balcony is closed.