It is hard to believe that 2007 was the last time Matt Damon portrayed Jason Bourne. The series continued with Jeremy Renner playing a character set in the same universe in the 2012 release “The Bourne Legacy”, but fans have longed for more from the series originator.
Thankfully Writer/Director Paul Greengrass has returned with Damon to in the new film “Jason Bourne” The film opens with Bourne in hiding and living off the grid in Greece. He sustains himself by taking part in full contact matches and has regained more of the memories he has forgotten since the events prior to the first film.
His former associate Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) has managed to hack into the government and has obtained numerous files about covert operations including a new and greater program as well as information about Bourne and his father.
The leak catches the attention of Director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones) and he tasks ambitious Agent Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander) to find and stop Bourne and Parsons.
At the same time, Dewey is working with a software developer to ensure that the government has unlimited access to all the users of his software in order to maintain surveillance upon them. Uncomfortable with this arrangement the developer (Aaron Kalloor) threatens to expose what the government has been up to at a big software expo in Las Vegas before a worldwide audience.
With this new threat and Bourne resurfaced, a cold and deadly assassin is dispatched and in locales ranging from Greece, Berlin, London, and Las Vegas as Bourne attempts to get the answers he wants and to settle some old scores with danger all around him.
The film takes a bit to get up to speed but once it does it delivers the action and political intrigue that fans of the series have come to expect. Naturally it does at times require a few leaps of faith but in the end, Bourne is back better than ever and Damon reminds us of how much he owns this character with her performance. Here is hoping we do not have as long a wait for him to return in a new Bourne adventure.
4 stars out of 5.
Second review by Joshua Aja
As the story begins we find Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) off grid in a bare knuckle boxing ring struggling to come to terms with who he really is. Meanwhile, ex-CIA agent, and Bourne ally, Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) is attempting to hack into the CIA in an effort to expose past and future secret operations. The attempt is thwarted by ambitious CIA agent Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander) but not before Parsons finds a secret that involves Jason Bourne’s past. She rushes to get the information to Bourne not knowing that Agent Lee, CIA Director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones) and an out for revenge asset (Vincent Cassel) are all hunting her, and more importantly Bourne. Director Dewey also has to make sure the information from the attempted hack doesn’t affect his new operation involving social media mogul Aaron Kalloor (Riz Ahmed). This is when the chases, fast paced fighting scenes, and spy intrigue begins.
If you are a fan of the Bourne franchise, this film will not disappoint. Even if you are new to the franchise, don’t worry. They do a decent job of catching you up in the first five minutes, as well as flashbacks throughout. Jason Bourne is the fifth installment of the series based on Robert Ludlum Bourne novels. It has all of the car/motorcycle chases, hand to hand combat, and Jason Bourne looking for answers and settling scores that made the previous films a success. For these reasons, it was a pleasant movie going experience. Director Paul Greengrass does use the one shot action scenes well, but the camera is a little too shaky for me at times. Also, the story seems a little too similar to the story of his last two Bourne films (The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum), which were also collaborations with Damon. But this is what fans of the franchise have come to expect and enjoy. And considering the previous Damon installment in the franchise was released nearly 10 years ago (2007), Greengrass did succeed in updating the film with modern day technology and surveillance tactics.
The movie is a success as an action film and definitely follows the mold of the previous films, a little too much at times. But definitely worth seeing and enjoying.
4.5 out of 5
