The Bourne Ultimatum

"They can kill the mind and body, but they cannot kill the spirit." Matt. 10:28

In the The Bourne Ultimatum, we finally figure out who Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) really is. After three movies of suspense, mystery, action, and adventure, it seems that Jason Bourne is a man of faith.

Near the end of this movie, Bourne has a flashback of his first day on the job as a CIA operative and we get a quick glimpse of his military dogtags. Clear as day, under the name "David Webb" (his original name) is the word "Catholic."

I think it's that one glimpse that answers so much about the Bourne movies.

Here's my theory: As a young adult, Jason Bourne was a Catholic who fell away from his faith and instead put his trust in a secret government agency to bring about justice. But the lessons of his Catholic faith wouldn't subside - and found himself remembering "thou shall not kill" and "what did you do to the least of my brothers and sisters?" in the midst of his covert ops. When Bourne had a chance at a new life in The Bourne Identity (when he lost his memory), he resorted to the ethics and principles that had remained lodged in his subconscience. He may not have been able to remember his CIA training and kills, but he could never forget his morals.

I imagine that Jason Bourne had a Catholicity like many young adults today. The rituals and requirements, pomp and circumstance of the Roman Catholic faith did not connect with his everyday life, so he abandoned it for the ways of the world. However, what did connect was the Church's teachings on social justice, ethics, the dignity of life, forgiveness, compassion, and repentance. Those basic gospel values rang out loud and clear.

Jesus told his disciples this warning when he sent them out into the world, "They can kill the mind and body, but they cannot kill the spirit." (Matt. 10:28) As long as deep within us resides a spirit of justice and gospel values, those values will find us once again.

I wonder how many other people out there have fallen from the practice of their religion, but still hold true to the core of their faith?

How many other people are stuck in jobs and lives that lead us away from gospel values?

How many other people have sought out justice from the world, but found it lacking?

How many other people are trying to find out their core identity and their purpose in life?

At the core of Jason Bourne there wasn't just a guy named David Webb who once applied for covert operations at the CIA headquarters. At the core of Jason Bourne was a man of faith, with strong convictions, moral priciples and ethics, and a longing for redemption.

At the core of who we are, what will we find? And who can we encourage out there to search deep within for those values that truly define them in this world and the next?

The Simpsons Movie

The gift of reason.

It's interesting how small characters can truly double in size on the big screen. The Simpson Movie does just that.

Simpsons' characters like Homer, Bart, Marge, Maggie, Lisa, as well as Ned Flanders, Moe the Bartender, and Mr. Burns are monumental in size, more monumental than they've ever been on the television screen. And like their visages, their personalities seem to double in size too.

On the big screen, Marge seems ever more nagging, Burns seems even more evil, Bart a bit more mischeveous, and unfortunately, Homer seems even more dumb.

In 30-minute increments, Homer's stupidity is more easily forgiven (for the sake of running time, he has to - he needs to do something stupid and repent in just a few minutes). But for 90-minutes of film time, his stupidity is magnified and the time until his realization is much longer. Even having a series run of 17 seasons magnifies the issue: you'd think after all this time, Homer would stop being dumb. It's like every episode (and now every movie), he has to be reminded how to act and speak again and again.

I pray that Homer Simpson is not the "everyman" that he once seemed to be. I pray that Americans aren't as dumb as he is or as forgetful of the people around him.

In The Simpsons Movie, Homer's misdeeds come because he thinks only of himself. He is a horrible father, a wayward husband, and a selfish person overall. Because he wanted a donut, he polluted a lake with toxic waste; because he always wanted a pet pig, he neglected his own son; because he only thinks of his own dream, he disregards the Springfield residents who (over many many episodes) have come to selflessly help Homer out in the past.

Even his "epiphany" in this film is shallow. He learns to care about others but only because by helping others, he will help himself. Helping others, in his "epiphany" is not about self-sacrifice, it is not about loving one's neighbor, it isn't even about being grateful for all the good things your neighbors have done for you. It's still just about him.

On the small screen, I love The Simpsons. It's a wonderful comedy about families and sticking together. But in the movie theatre, I hoped and prayed for more. I hoped and prayed for the honest social and moral commentary the show once had. I hoped and prayed for a Homer, who after so many seasons on the air, finally "gets it." I hoped and prayed, even in the course of this movie, that Homer would realize what he had done, repent, and do good for others because he truly cares for others - not just because, in saving Springfield he'll save himself.

This movie makes you think about how people like Homer don't think.

Approaching our relationships with others through the perspective of our hearts is wonderful; but we also need to use our head as well. We need to think a bit more about what we've done, what we're doing, and where God is taking us. We cannot reply on auto-pilot all our lives, and do things the way we've always done them or that way we're comfortable with. Living good lives involves some real brain power, something poor Homer does not have.

Let us pray for anyone we know like Homer, that they may learn to think before they act. God gave us all the power to reason; let's use that gift wisely.

Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix

"It's alright te be angry, but it's never alright to act upon it. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and never leave room in your heart for the devil." Eph. 4:26-27

Harry Potter, in this, his fifth movie, The Order of the Phoenix, is getting more and more angry.

The movie begins on a dark and stormy afternoon as Harry (played by Daniel Radcliffe) sits alone on a playground, deep in his own thoughts and mulling over his anger.

He is angry because his friends Ron and Hermione, as well as his godfather Sirius Black, haven't written him all summer. He is angry because he saw a Hogwarts classmate get killed by his archnemesis Voldemort just a few months earlier (as we saw at the end of The Goblet of Fire). He is angry because he has no friends when he comes home for the summer. He is angry because it seems nearly everyone in his life has rejected him.

Into this anger come two dementors, the hooded death-like guardians of the wizard prison Azkaban, have come for him, to suck out any remaining happiness from Harry's life.

While he is able to fend them off, this just leads to more anger.

We learn later that because of the connection between Harry and Voldemort through his lightening bolt-shaped scar, Harry feels what Voldemort feels - anger, hatred, and jealosy, among other negative emotions. As the movie goes on, Harry must resist reacting to his own life situations as Voldemort would react.

To counteract the negativity within him, he starts to rely more and more on his friends. He forms "Dumbledore's Army," a group of kids from Hogwarts who want to learn how to defend themselves against trouble (since their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and Hogwarts' new High Inquisitor, Dolores Umbridge, wonderfully portrayed by Imelda Stanton, refuses to teach such 'unnecessary' actions).

Through "Dumbledore's Army," the students learn how to effectly defend against evil, and Harry himself learns to work with others and not just do everything on his own. He even learns about handling relationships as he has his first kiss after one of the classes. By the power of friendships, he is able to control his anger.

And when Harry is about to head off alone to face Voldemort and his Death Eaters at the Ministry of Magic, his friends give him another lesson in togetherness. They insist that they go with him, despite Harry's objections. Like the previous generation who banded together to form the Order of the Phoenix, Harry and his friends are a new generation who have learned that only when we act together, can we truly defeat evil.

In our own lives, we have many reasons each day to be angry. Things don't always go our way, or sometimes it's just as simple as someone cutting us off in traffic. When we are alone, these feelings of anger and resentment can overwhelm us, causing us to act upon them in sinful ways.

But when we have a support system, when we have friends and family to lift us up, we feel less inclined to act on those impulses. Our friends remind us why we should never do that.

God has given us to each other, not just for company on this planet, but also because to deal with anger, hatred, and fear, we need one another.

Voldemort, in the Harry Potter films, acts alone (his Death Eaters are his servants, not his friends); but Harry Potter and his allies act together. No matter which film it is, Harry always has Ron and Hermione, Dumbledore and even Severus Snape (teaching us that sometimes we need to work with people we don't particularly like all the time).

St. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians reminds us, when we're alone and angry: "It's alright te be angry, but it's never alright to act upon it. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and never leave room in your heart for the devil." (4:26-27). One might imagine this is what Jesus himself had in mind when, at the Last Supper, he told his disciples, "I no longer call you slaves... I call you my friends." (John 15:15) With friends, Jesus was able to transform the world. Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix calls us to the same.

So who is in your own Order of the Phoenix? Who is there when we grow angry and desire to act on that anger? Who is it that God has called you to work together with to transform the world and overcome evil? I pray that we all find our own Order of the Phoenix.

Transformers

There's more than meets the eye.

On the surface, Transformers is simply the new action-packed film featuring alien beings who transform themselves into our cars, trucks, planes, and electronic devices (so keep an eye on your ipod or your dvd player lest they get up and start walking around on their own).

Like the film itself, the message of the movie gets clearer once you peel away the ear-popping explosions and eye-stimulating special effects.

Ironically, Transformers, a mid-summer popcorn movie, is really a film about going deeper.

On the surface, our characters have a certain perception to others around them: Sam Witwicky (played by Shia LaBeouf) is just your average, picked-on teenager; Mikaela Banes (Meghan Fox) is just your average, good-looking, hangs-out-with-the-popular-guys kind of girl; and Sam's car is just a beat-up 1977 Chevrolet Camero. On the surface, that is.

But like the car, which "transforms" into Bumblebee, a mute Autobot with a talent for bringing young lovers together, Sam and Mikaela are much more than meets the eye.

Sam is an Ebay regular, a fun-loving but devoted son, who wants to seek out the truth about and one day grow up to be like his grandfather and his epic adventures in the Artic. Mikaela is someone escaping her past and her tragic family story, but also a girl who knows more than most about cars, driving, and engines.

If we didn't get to know them, we'd have written them off as run-of-the-mill teenagers, as the lovable geek or the hot cheerleader-type. And if we didn't know better (and we weren't in a Transformers movie), the 1977 Camero would just be someone's beat-up first car.

Sam, Mikaela, and Bumblebee (not to mention Autobot leader Optimus Prime, Australian computer genious Maggie Madsen, or Army Captain Lennox, among others) are just like us. Sometimes we feel like we're judged on who we appear on the outside, without anyone noticing our deeper stories, our real motives, or our fascinating past. Sometimes we believe everyone else who says that's all we really are.

Society today even reinforces our stereotype and the perceptions people have. We're put into demographic "boxes," but what angers us is that those "boxes" don't fit. They aren't us.
We easily classified by our jobs, our marital status, our towns, our economic bracket, our appearances, our clothes, our skin color, our religious preferences, our political affiilation, or whatever other "box" they have put us in.

Even if the world looks at us like this, God doesn't. And people of God shouldn't.

If we are to become people of God, then we need to look at others as "transformers" too. Like us, everyone else has a complex backstory and an incredible future ahead. We need to see others beyond their "box" and imagine what marvelous things we'll discover. In the Scriptures, Jesus even says, "Aren't you more than the food you eat or the clothes you wear?" (Mt. 6:25)

Our responsiblity is to believe that we are more than meets the eye, and to believe that everyone else is, too.

Live Free or Die Hard

that guy...

We all want to be "that guy." Each summer at the movies, we encounter a number of "that guy's" and in Live Free or Die Hard, we re-encounter the guy that started it all: Bruce Willis as John McClane.

McClane is the cop that goes above and beyond to save the day. Whereas the normal guys in blue just rush to the scene of a crime, John McClane is "that guy" who runs headlong into the action, saving the day from within. His is an inspirational story for heroes everywhere. To go into the heart of darkness without waiting for backup is admirable, risky, and courageous.

With three movies of that behind us, we enter Live Free or Die Hard. It seems like the characters in the movie have actually seen the previous Die Hard films, because it is Matt Farrell (Justin Long) who comments to McClane, "I'm not 'that guy' like you..." Matt is just a wide-eyed, out-for-the-common-man, computer hacker - he saves the day like a techno-Robin Hood of stealing from the rich and powerful for the sake of the rest of us. But he's far from admirable or courageous - he does his work behind a computer screen and doesn't exactly give back to the poor or anything.

We might see ourselves like Matt, too. Perhaps in our world, if we met John McClane, we might say that we're just a normal, cautious (even scared) person. We're not the kind of guys or girls who would save the day from within the heat of battle; we pray that trained professionals will get that job done.

But Matt and McClane move this fun movie ahead because both teach each other (and us) a valuable lesson.

Matt teaches McClane that others can help, too; he teaches him that brawn and muscle also need a bit of brain and smarts (especially in our 21st century world with computers and technology). On the other hand, McClane teaches Matt to step it up a notch - that being careful and cautious and not taking risks can lead to nothingness, too. He teaches him that sometimes we have to emerge from anonymity and become a leader.

And through this combination, both guys become "that guy".

We, too, can be "that guy" - perhaps not with nuclear weapons or giant computer viruses at stake - but we can step up behind the wall of anonymity and risklessness. If if we're more like Bruce Willis, we can take a step back and learn to work with others, especially those who have the gifts we don't have.

God calls us all to become extraordinary - or "that guy." Jesus was "that guy" who took risks and saved the day, but the disciples eventually became "that guy" too after the Resurrection. As Scripture says, they hid behind closed doors and tried to save the world that way; but it was when they came from behind the wall on Pentecost that they truly became "that guy."

We, too, are called to be extraordinary... like Jesus, like the disciples, like John McClane, and like Matt the computer hacker too.

Evan Almighty

"The Lord said to Noah, 'Make yourself an ark..." Gen. 6:14

This movie would seem like a no-brainer when it comes to finding God in Evan Almighty.

And yes, the movie has a core theme of helping to make the world a better place instead of focusing only on one's own self. There's also several sub-themes including fighting against corruption, standing for the environment, following your beliefs, and paying attention to your family.

However, the movie's plot and story actually cancel out these valuable moral messages.

In this movie, Evan Baxter (Steve Carrell) reprises his role from Bruce Almighty (2003); this time, though, Evan has been elected to Congress and takes his family to live in Washington DC. His campaign, won on the premise of making the world a better place, comes back to haunt him as God (Morgan Freeman) comes to cash in on that promise.

At this point in the movie, it's great. We sit in our church pews each Sunday and talk about the poor, the hungry, the dying people overseas and in our inner cities. We jump onto the newest charity or social cause (the environment, Habitat for Humanity, the tsunami, 9-11, etc.) but often times forget about it once the "fad" wears off. This movie, it seems, wants to remind us that God expects us to be truthful, consistant, and committed to the causes we profess.

But that's when the movie cancels out its fantastic message.

Soon, the film turns into a comedy riot watching Evan grow a long beard, don Biblical attire, and literally building a giant ark, probably an exact replica of the one featured in Genesis 6-8. In all this excitement, the audience forgets about the core message.

In a way, this movie contradicts itself. It seems the only way to change the world is to start talking, looking, dressing, and acting like someone from centuries-ago Palestine. In fact, as Evan becomes more Noah-like, he starts talking like he just memorized his Bible. Normal people with everyday lives, it seems, don't bring about change - only special saints are allowed to do that.

This movie is a radical departure from Bruce Almighty, which had an opposite premise: only when Bruce acts like a real human does he truly act "divine." Bruce is an accessible saint, one that we can all imagine ourselves in. Evan is aloof from our experiences (unless, of course, we have a spare ark in our backyard or talk with a Morgan Freeman-lookalike on a regular basis).

Imagine how it would have been if Evan was an ordinary guy who learned to save the environment or at least fulfill his campaign promises? These are the stories to inspire. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington felt more divine than this movie, and that one didn't need millions of dollars spent on training baboons and elephants.

So after seeing this movie, I went back to the first few scenes where I was hopeful for something great.

The message I took from this that we are called not just to say we're going to save the world, but to actually do something about it. Words mean nothing until we "cash them in" with God through our good works.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

How fantastic are you?

As opposed to many of the other superhero movies this or any summer, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer once again gives us at least four unique heroes with comic-book powers and equally comic-book personalities.

When we watch this film, we may find ourselves connecting with one or another of the characters. We start to see the movie's plot, situations, and challenges from the perspective of that character. We invest in that character, hoping their journey will be a worthwhile one by the time the credits roll.

So which of the main characters of Fantastic Four are you most like? How fantastic are you?

Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd)
Richards' ability is to stretch his body into all sorts of shapes and sizes, but what sets him apart is his superior intellegence. His mathematical and scientific skills led the Four to track and find the mysterious Silver Surfer, and escape in a brand new airplane. But what weakens Richards is his overconfidence in his smarts and forgetfulness of the relationships around him (including his fiancee Sue Storm). Are we like Reed Richards? Are we so consumed with our work that we forget to stop and smell the roses? Are we so obsessed with ourselves and forget the life-giving relationships all around us? Do we feel so 'stretched' that we cannot give enough time and attention to our loved ones? If so, maybe we're Mr. Fantastic, too.

The Invisble Girl/Sue Storm (Jessica Alba)
Sue Storm has the gift of turning invisble and creating a protective forcefield around her and others. In this movie, she yearns to give it all up just to enjoy her soon-to-be married life. She seems quite focused on preparing for the future in spite of the present. Regardless of what's going on right now, her attention is on what lies ahead. Are we like Sue Storm? Are we waiting for the perfect "tomorrow," frustrated with "today"? Do we just want to turn invisible and escape our life right now? If so, maybe we're just like the Invisible Girl.

The Human Torch/Johnny Storm (Chris Evans)
Flaming up and flying away in a firestorm are the powers of Johnny Storm. Just like his illuminating gifts, Storm is a fiesty pistol, enjoying life just a little bit TOO much. He moves from girlfriend to girlfriend, never feeling good enough to settle down. Are we like Johnny Storm? Are we all talk but no one really knows us deep inside? Do we draw attention to ourselves, so that no one notices the real issues lying within our soul? Are we lonely even in a crowd of people? If so, maybe we're torching up like Johnny Storm.

The Thing/Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis)
Grimm's unwelcome reaction to nuclear exposure in the first movie made him into a super-powerhouse rock man. Unlike the other three, Grimm's ability never turns off - in fact, it's almost akin to a deformity. While he's physically strong, Grimm is a soft guy at heart. He bemoans his fate as the rock-laden "freak" amongst his picture-perfect colleagues. But in this sequel, through the love of his girlfriend Alicia, he's the one who has it all together. His was the character I most identified with myself; even though I feel imperfect and awkward at times, sometimes feeling less important than others around me, it is through the love of my wife and my friends and family that makes me feel like a superhero. Are you like The Thing too? Do you have feelings of inadequecy? Do you feel like an outsider? But do you feel the power of the love of your friends and family lift you up beyond your own abilities? Maybe, like me, you're not unlike the rock-hard Ben Grimm.

The Silver Surfer (voiced by Laurence Fishburne)
In this film, the Silver Surfer is the quiet outsider who comes to earth to destroy it, but finds that our human love and compassion make this planet truly worth saving. The Surfer undergoes a conversion experience like Paul of Tarsus, whose original mission was to destroy the Christians but then became the new savior of this new movement. Are you like the Silver Surfer? Have you had a conversion experience that has changed your mind about your world? Do you find yourself light years away from where you once were, before you "saw the light"? Are you called to save the world? Then just maybe you're another Silver Surfer, too.

Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington)
One of the most underappreciated heroes of Rise of the Silver Surfer is someone unexpected, someone without a single superpower. Alicia Masters is the blind girlfriend of Ben Grimm, who loves The Thing despite the fact that her man is made of rock. She doesn't let her disability stop her from loving. She doesn't let the world tell her what to do with her life. Are you like Alicia? Are you someone who sees beauty in all things, regardless of their appearance? Are you someone who isn't going to let anyone impose their expectations on you? Are you living your life to the fullest, giving your love freely to all God's creation? Perhaps, then, you're just like Ms. Alicia Masters, the real life superhero of Fantastic Four.

What unites all these fantastic people is that they all struggle, but they go above and beyond their shortcomings, their problems, and their limitations. What makes these characters really fantastic isn't their superpowers, it's who they are inside.

Just like you and me: what makes us fantastic isn't what we can do, what our job is, or what strengths or skills we've been blessed with. What makes us fantastic is who we are deep down inside, and the person God is calling us to be - so that we, too, can save the world.