The Bourne Legacy

my ticket

The Bourne Legacy had its Asian premiere at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at the Resorts World Manila last August 5, 2012. It was a star-studded red carpet event with celebrities and top ranking government officials in attendance. American producer Pat Crowley flew all the way from New York to grace the event.

Crowley says shooting in the Philippines was the perfect choice for them. He had to bring in about 100 of his crew from abroad and hired over a hundred more workers here in the country. They also had to repair about 50 shanties in San Andres, Manila for the "roof scene". Crowley says all that hard work was worth it, even saying that the "Manila chasing scene" was among the best in the industry. He adds The Bourne Legacy is the big screen debut of the Philippines in a long time.

Producer Pat Crowley

It's true. This is the only film of this scale to have shot in the country in recent times. What is important to note is that Manila was used as Manila and not any other Asian cities like in the past. A lot of foreign films were shot in the Philippines before, but the country was just used as substitute for Thailand or Vietnam. Here, Manila is Manila.

The film is the fourth installment in the Bourne series. Before watching, I suggest you get to know the first 3 films first just to get the gist of the plot. I was lost in the first 10 minutes of the film because I forgot what happened in the first 3 Bourne movies.

I won't say much about the film to avoid spoilers. But I must salute the producers for actually choosing Manila for the car chase scene. I couldn't imagine how it was to shoot in the streets of Manila, but they did it, and they did well. It must have been a nightmare shooting in Manila, but they managed it well. I hope local film producers could also do similar chase scenes. Now, The Bourne Legacy has also set a benchmark in the local film industry. If it was done well, I'm sure Pinoys can do it too, if not better.

I recommend this film, if only for the Manila scenes. It's also refreshing to hear Filipino words in a mainstream Hollywood movie. Just expect an abrupt ending though, medyo bitin.

Newport Theater lobby

red carpet area

first time I had to wear something formal just to watch a movie :)