Review #1,117: 'Jason Bourne' (2016)

While Tony Gilroy's rather fumbling The Bourne Legacy (2012) informed us that was 'never just one', the theatrical poster however failed to realise that there would be just one audiences would remember. That, of course, is Matt Damon's Jason Bourne, thanks to Doug Liman's enjoyable first entry and Paul Greengrass later taking the reigns and simultaneously lifting the franchise to a whole new level. Legacy, the Jeremy Renner vehicle, entertained fleetingly but ultimately suffered from its need to expand a universe which was built around Damon's presence and physicality and Greengrass' kinetic action, and so, in losing the series' two main draws, the film felt like another routine action thriller.

It seemed like Damon and Greengrass were done with the world of Treadstone and sleeper agents, but they are both back on board for the fourth entry, the somewhat unimaginatively-titled Jason Bourne. 9 years have passed since the original trilogy was wrapped up beautifully with The Bourne Ultimatum, with amnesiac henchman learning his true name (the less cool-sounding David Webb) and confronting the big bad seemingly behind the brutal training/brain-washing regime that morphed Bourne into the serial killer he cannot remember he was. So, the fourth (or fifth?) entry is the sequel that nobody, including fans, were really asking for, and this was reflected in its underwhelming box-office takings. You would think Damon and Greengrass were brought back into the fold because they had something fresh, but Jason Bourne sits comfortably in the formula that previously brought huge success.

It is so familiar in fact that I could swear I was watching the same scenes of wrinkled government operatives barking orders at underlings in a monitor-heavy CIA office while they watch Bourne vanish before their eyes, only with Tommy Lee Jones instead of David Strathairn and Alicia Vikander instead of Joan Allen. This time around, the super soldier is forced to leave his life of bare-knuckled fisticuffs in Greece when Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), now working underground as a whistleblower, uncovers information from the CIA of Bourne's Treadstone recruitment and the death of his father. The hack alerts the head of CIA's cyber-ops division Heather Lee (Vikander) and CIA Director Robert Dewey (Jones), who hire an 'asset' (Vincent Cassel) to finally put Bourne to rest. However, Lee believes he could be brought back into the fold and put back to work.

The overbearing sense of familiarity with the story, locations and characters cast a dark cloud over what is essentially a reasonably entertaining and well-photographed slice of action cinema. Damon broods in front of a mirror, a saggy-faced suit becomes increasingly frustrated at Bourne's elusiveness, and a decent actor is wasted as a dead-eyed bad guy assassin (although he is given a history with his prey here). The feeling of repetitiveness really hangs a question mark over the world-buildings potential of the series, as well as just why Damon and Greengrass felt the need to return to a story that doesn't really drive Bourne's story forward. As a stand-alone work, this is a movie that excites with bruising action scenes and never bores throughout its 2 hour running-time, with Damon inevitably impressing. As an anticipated Bourne sequel, it's a passive shrug. The Bourne Redundancy would be a more appropriate title.


Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Julia Stiles, Riz Ahmed
Country: UK/China/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie