Jason Bourne (2016) Review

The announcement of a new Bourne film meant that I finally had to catch up with the series. Just last month, I watched the previous four films and, for the most part, I enjoyed them. I'm now a fan of the original trilogy, which are some of the best-crafted action films of the last decade. They even rival the Mission: Impossible series and the more recent James Bond movies. The Bourne Legacy wasn't gosh-awful, but it was a weak and boring attempt to continue the franchise.

Anyways, after nine years, Matt Damon returns in the titular role. Also returning is director Paul Greengrass, who directed The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, the latter which is considered to be the best in the series. That was enough to get fans excited for Jason Bourne, which is an odd name for a sequel. Couldn't they just use the usual "The Bourne [X]" titling? With that said, though, the latest entry shows that having Damon and Greengrass back is not enough to make a worthy continuation.

This time around, Jason Bourne comes out of hiding yet again to discover a conspiracy as well as finding out even more about his past and why he is the way he is. I'm being pretty vague about it because there are a lot of things that I do not want to spoil, so I will leave it at that.

It's great to see Damon back as Bourne and he does a fine job here. He continues to kick a lot of butt and he shows that he is not to be messed with. However, I do feel that he was pretty much out of it at this point. I wasn't as invested in his character as I was before because we've gotten all the necessary information after The Bourne Ultimatum. However, Jason Bourne decides to retcon the ending just to give us another story, which makes it my first point on why this isn't all that great.

To switch on a positive note for a bit, I will say that I liked some of the new cast members. Alicia Vikander plays Heather Lee, who is interested in bringing Bourne alive, as well as other things I will not spoil. I thought she did fine, but nothing to write home about. At least she is not shoehorned in as a love interest because that would have been completely unnecessary. Tommy Lee Jones plays yet another grouchy, old guy who is after Bourne (seriously, how many of them are there?). I thought he did pretty well with what he was given, making him a pretty interesting antagonist who looks so determined to get back at Bourne.

The film is entertaining enough, but to further add from Bourne being less interesting, I felt that the script overall wasn't as strong as its predecessors. For one, it does what Spectre did by giving us a subplot that isn't all that interesting and serves as a bit of a distraction. All it does it set up the climax and after that, it's not mentioned again. Worst of all, the story just wasn't all that compelling. I didn't have a feeling of progression. By the end, I was wondering to myself "What was accomplished after all this?"

How are the action scenes? Well, Paul Greengrass delivers on the action scenes thanks to his signature shaky cam and some rapid editing which were present in Supremacy and Ultimatum. I normally hate those kind of things, but they were exceptionally well-done in those films. The camera moves a lot because everyone else is, which made for some fast-paced fun and the editing is done just right to not disorient the viewer, at least to me.

Jason Bourne does feature what we have come to expect, from its foot chases, car chases, and hand-to-hand fist fights, all of which are well-done with, once again, a good use of shaky cam and rapid editing. There were even moments that I thought were rightfully brutal because of the way the punches land on each character. On top of that, it also continues to have a tense score by returning composer John Powell and newcomer David Buckley. There weren't any tunes in the score that I would hum in the future, but it does its job well.

To be honest though, the action is pretty lacking in comparison to the trilogy. The cinematography and editing feels very tired. What made the first three films so great were that there were moments where the audience feels just as worried and paranoid as Bourne because chances are something might be screwed up. The way the films were edited and shot helped convey this feeling. I didn't get any of that here. The action scenes didn't excite me enough because I wasn't as invested in the story and they weren't paced well enough. I was sometimes just turned off from the experience, which is a let down.

I don't want to say that Jason Bourne is a terrible movie, because it is not. However, as a follow-up to The Bourne Ultimatum, it left a lot to be desired. It's hard to keep the wow factor going, which is the movie's biggest downfall. The script isn't as tight, the story is not very engaging, and the action scenes, while done fine, aren't as exciting as before. I think it would have been better if the Bourne series remained as a trilogy, because it IS one of the best trilogies ever made. I was entertained, but I still found it disappointing. Overall, I say...

THINK FOR YOURSELF

...because many others might get a good kick out of it. Or not, it doesn't matter.

I will admit, however, that the new version of Moby's "Extreme Ways" (which played in every film) was pretty awesome, so at least I got something out of it.