Jason Bourne

The world has evolved quite a bit since one of the best action trilogies of all time concluded. 

Those original three Jason Bourne films, plagued only by excessive shaky cam usage, were taut cat-and-mouse games that unraveled the excellent story of Jason Bourne and where he came from. The combination of director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon was a winning one and The Bourne Ultimatum still remains probably one of the best spy/espionage films I've ever seen. 

Then we got The Bourne Legacy, a film so stupid and useless that I actively hate it. No fault of Jeremy Renner either -- I actually quite liked him in the role -- but it didn't do anything for the Bourne mythology and it was sloppily put together (the big baddie being revealed in only the final 15 minutes anyone?). 

It underwhelmed most everyone so the studio tried to get back the two who knew how to do it best: Damon and Greengrass. 

The only thing against them was: how could they even compete in this arena anymore? This is now a world of an iconic Bond, some of Ethan Hunt's best missions, and more Bourne copycats than you can shake a hat at. How would the true Bourne stand out? 

Turns out, he doesn't. At least not in 2016. It's a difficult pill to swallow, but Jason Bourne never reaches those insane highs of the original trilogy, though it's leagues better than Legacy. I actually quite enjoyed this film for what it was worth but I have to sadly admit two things: 1) the story doesn't do much for the overall plot and 2) this is the most preposterous Bourne film yet.

"Good God! That's Jason Bourne!"

"Holy Canoli! That's Jason Bourne!"

You may be wondering where Jason Bourne could go after Ultimatum. Naturally, the film ties in with recent events and technology so this film is all about Bourne coming back to find a truth about his past. Unfortunately only one person at the CIA seems to understand this -- Alicia Vikander -- while everyone else thinks that Bourne is trying to leak Black Ops information a la Snowden. To make matters worse, the CIA director (Jones) is currently working with a social media mogul to track the world and the mogul is having second reservations. If you're playing the "one of these things is not like the other game" you'd be smart to see that the latter half of that plot synopsis doesn't quite make sense. Thinking back on the film, it doesn't fit as nicely as I first felt it did either. The whole social media aspect simply acts as a catalyst for a big setpiece but at the end of the day, it didn't need to be there at all. The film's trio of Vikander, Lee, and Damon are strong enough to warrant an argument that this cat-and-mouse game should have been the primary and only focus all along. Complaints aside, the film is a very swift two hours and it rarely lets up. Furthermore, I knew what characters were doing and why they were doing it which is appreciated because that's hard to achieve in the spy world. 

Over the course of those two hours, Bourne travels to several locals and the film has a couple setpieces that, while maybe not Bourne classics, are entertaining in their own right. Most of it is done with a realistic touch and a particular meet-up scene in Berlin was probably the most tightly edited and effective part for me. The end, which features a ridiculous but highly entertaining chase through the streets of Vegas really forgoes what has always made Bourne so deadly: working from the shadows. Some may consider this scene to be where the film jumped the shark, I wouldn't disagree with them, but damn was that chase still fun to watch. 

"Dear sweet baby Jesus! That's Jason Bourne!"

On a technical level, as most Greengrass films often are, Jason Bourne is superb and this is a case of a competent editing team/director making a good movie even better. There once again may be too much shaky cam here and there (nothing like it was in Supremacy though), but overall the camerawork here is expertly shot and in way that makes the whole thing feel high-strung, in a good way. The pulsing original score is nothing you haven't heard before, but its well suited for this kind of movie and between the two combined, this is a exquisitely crafted thriller. 

While Jason Bourne may be a sign of the times and their change since his last adventure, there's still a way that Bourne can be a hero: end the series here. When thinking about directions this franchise could go, I'm coming up short with anything that would be less than superfluous and it would be downright tragic to see Bourne/Damon/Greengrass end up with iterations comparable to the Taken series or any of the other copycats. Jason Bourne is a fun and thrilling enough sendoff, even with another open ending, and while it may not rival the original, iconic trilogy, it does have merits of its own. 

Let's hope they let the character end here before they make a film that even Bourne can't save.

CONS:

• The story, while leagues better than Legacy, isn't quite up to par with the originals. This doesn't add much to the overall Bourne story
• Social media aspect seemed a bit unnecessary in retrospect 
• This Bourne tests the limits of reality and physics. Not too far, but still a bit of a departure from the series's roots
• Still a little too much shaky cam
• Bourne's peers have surpassed him. Hunt and Bond in particular

PROS:

• Damon is still fantastic as Bourne, now a weathered soldier in hiding
• Vikander is a great addition and plays a straightforward analyst really well. Tommy Lee Jones continues to be creepy, but powerful in his "villain" role
• Really tight and crisp editing
• Good pacing makes this 2 hour film feel more like an 1.5
• Handful of great setpieces, even the last semi-preposterous one in Vegas
• Greengrass is still one of the most effective directors there is
• Thrilling, entertaining, if not somewhat forgettable in the pantheon of Bourne films

Rath's Review Score: 7.5/10