I've been waiting for this movie for nearly a decade now and the fanboy in me probably thinks its the greatest thing ever! But objectively speaking, 'Jason Bourne' is a pretty great revival of the franchise, but it isn't exactly of the caliber of the original trilogy (especially Greengrass' two previous efforts).
Its not a knock on the film itself. There are some great action set- pieces, particularly the opening one set during a night-time Athens riot. It does everything much like its titular - with perfect surgical precision. And yet, one gets the feeling of it getting a tad too formulaic - a series of boxes being ticked off. Car chase? Yes. Hand-to-hand fight with rival assassin? Yes. Stake-out? Yes. And so on. In defense of this film, the box-ticking arguably started with 'Ultimatum' (and its really inevitable in any franchise after a point), but it seems a tad more emphatic here. Yet, the box-ticking does serve the purpose of reassuring audiences that yes, Bourne is indeed back (the REAL Bourne and not Jeremy Renner pretending to be Bourne in all but name), so perhaps one should cut it some slack. Ultimately though, what 'Jason Bourne' does well, the previous films did better.
There are two points of 'originality' I credit this film for, and both are particularly intriguing and vital if one considers this to be the launch of a new cycle of Bourne films. One is Alicia Vikander's cyber-intelligence expert Heather Lee. Ostensibly, she appears to be the latest iteration of the Nicky Parsons/Pam Landy archetype, but as the film progresses, we learn there's a lot more to her than meets the eye. Without spoiling too much, let's put it this way - Heather Lee may well the the character that truly gives this franchise its second wind. The other is an interesting discussion, that occurs intermittently through the film, about Bourne's patriotism and whether or not it can be used to convince him to return to service. In the current political climate, dominated by issues of identity and nationalism and debates over who's a patriot and who's a traitor...this is indeed a potent new hook on which to base Bourne's future character arc.
Matt Damon of course sinks back into Jason Bourne like he'd never left, though this time, there is a certain weariness to the character, which of course fits in with the narrative. Tommy Lee Jones takes a decent stab at playing Tommy Lee Jones, the gruff CIA Director Robert Dewey, who's basically plays the part Conklin, Abbott, and then Vosen did in previous installments. Julia Stiles brief return as Nicky Parsons is pretty decent too, and she adds some much needed connective tissue between the trilogy and this film. Of particular note is the performance of Vincent Cassel. The nameless 'asset' he plays is the most fleshed out version of this archetype thus far and he's actually relevant to the plot in a way that his predecessors never were (barring Clive Owen's Professor perhaps).
On the whole, Jason Bourne is back and there's potential for great things ahead. Only time will tell if we finally get a film that surpasses 'Supremacy' and 'Ultimatum'.
Its not a knock on the film itself. There are some great action set- pieces, particularly the opening one set during a night-time Athens riot. It does everything much like its titular - with perfect surgical precision. And yet, one gets the feeling of it getting a tad too formulaic - a series of boxes being ticked off. Car chase? Yes. Hand-to-hand fight with rival assassin? Yes. Stake-out? Yes. And so on. In defense of this film, the box-ticking arguably started with 'Ultimatum' (and its really inevitable in any franchise after a point), but it seems a tad more emphatic here. Yet, the box-ticking does serve the purpose of reassuring audiences that yes, Bourne is indeed back (the REAL Bourne and not Jeremy Renner pretending to be Bourne in all but name), so perhaps one should cut it some slack. Ultimately though, what 'Jason Bourne' does well, the previous films did better.
There are two points of 'originality' I credit this film for, and both are particularly intriguing and vital if one considers this to be the launch of a new cycle of Bourne films. One is Alicia Vikander's cyber-intelligence expert Heather Lee. Ostensibly, she appears to be the latest iteration of the Nicky Parsons/Pam Landy archetype, but as the film progresses, we learn there's a lot more to her than meets the eye. Without spoiling too much, let's put it this way - Heather Lee may well the the character that truly gives this franchise its second wind. The other is an interesting discussion, that occurs intermittently through the film, about Bourne's patriotism and whether or not it can be used to convince him to return to service. In the current political climate, dominated by issues of identity and nationalism and debates over who's a patriot and who's a traitor...this is indeed a potent new hook on which to base Bourne's future character arc.
Matt Damon of course sinks back into Jason Bourne like he'd never left, though this time, there is a certain weariness to the character, which of course fits in with the narrative. Tommy Lee Jones takes a decent stab at playing Tommy Lee Jones, the gruff CIA Director Robert Dewey, who's basically plays the part Conklin, Abbott, and then Vosen did in previous installments. Julia Stiles brief return as Nicky Parsons is pretty decent too, and she adds some much needed connective tissue between the trilogy and this film. Of particular note is the performance of Vincent Cassel. The nameless 'asset' he plays is the most fleshed out version of this archetype thus far and he's actually relevant to the plot in a way that his predecessors never were (barring Clive Owen's Professor perhaps).
On the whole, Jason Bourne is back and there's potential for great things ahead. Only time will tell if we finally get a film that surpasses 'Supremacy' and 'Ultimatum'.
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