Jason Bourne 2016

You know what? I don't care that this film is completely unnecessary. I don't care that the Great Question of this franchise was answered in The Bourne Ultimatum. I don't care that the socio-political commentary is obviously struggling for relevance outside of the Bush years. I don't care that the CIA seems to not have any field assets or agents under the age of 40. I don't care that the CIA inexplicably doesn't have drones or even mentions them. I don't care that Paul Greengrass is still obsessed with handcams to the point of absurdity.

None of that makes any difference to my enjoyment of this film because I really love this character. Is it as good as its predecessors? Nope, but it's been nine years and the last movie tied everything up nicely. But, it's still Jason Bourne through and through: the amnesiac, conflicted, neo-Conservative definition of a patriot who just needs to know who the hell he really is.

There's a lot of action in the movie, with a few scenes of light plot-building segueing into car chase after car chase after fight scene after car chase. Most of the cast outside of Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, and Tommy Lee Jones were superfluous and their roles could have gone to anybody who happened to be available. Which is to say, most of the talent was wasted in this film...just like in the prior films. They knew what they were signing up for, I'm sure.

Finally, they kept the relationships between people vague, which I still like. Did Jason and Nicky date prior to the events of The Bourne Identity? We still don't know for sure, and I think that vagueness adds a deeper emotional level to the work the two actors did. I still don't really understand the connection between Tommy Lee Jones' character and Jason Bourne, and I don't actually care. This isn't anyone's story but Jason Bourne's, and he plays it close to the vest even to himself.

Will I see it a second time in the theater? No, probably not. Will I rewatch it in the future? Most definitely.

(Originally posted to Letterboxd.)

Watching this move was exhausting for me and not because it so appealing or thrilling but because of the camera work. This camera doesn't stop moving for a second. I mean for real, it's moving the whole time even when 2 people are just talking. All of the shots are filmed in this 'dynamic' way which should give you feel like you right there within all the chaos and tension. Unfortunately it didn't. It isn't my cup of tea. I prefer steady camera work with wide shots so I can see whats happening instead of guessing. Take Mad Max Fury Road as a example. That's how action should be filmed in my opinion.

Besides the rushed editing and filming the movie was oke but not as good as the previous 3 Bourne films ( not counting Bourne Legacy ). The story was kinda predictable but well developed with a uninteresting side plot about a Social media platform. Which tried to get a deeper meaning by involving privacy rights and such. It didn't worked out for me at all. By far the most boring parts of the movie. The actions scenes are done very well as the acting. I didn't even see Matt Damon in the film it was all Jason Bourne, he played the roll almost flawless.

Overall I was entertained because I love film but on a sketchy level. When you don't except a masterpiece and like action and aren't having a headache at the moment you will have some fun with it.

With the finality of The Bourne Ultimatum, this was a film that was always going to struggle to come up with a viable plot line that would make delving into Bourne's memories again worth it. And indeed, this element is by far the weakest part of the film - exploring how Bourne has dealt with the revelations of the previous entries is a natural starting point, but introducing family ties to Jason Bourne's history comes across as quite contrived and linking this to the present even more so. The glimpses into Bourne's past as a result don't hit home emotionally in quite the same way that the previous entries did. It is a shame really because the rest of the film is a cracking return to form after the Damon-less Bourne Legacy. As soon as Bourne hits the streets of Athens, the film rarely lets up, and though the beats often seem familiar from previous entries, the relentless energy, familiar music and frenetic style still make for a tense and entertaining film. Nods to the changes in surveillance and current furore over data collection by security agencies form part of the overall story, and Alicia Vikander is a great addition here. But at the end of the day, this is simply Bourne doing his thing again, and it's great to have him back even if the development of Bourne’s character is less compelling this time round.

After watching Jason Bourne in the cinema back in 2016, I called it “entertaining but forgettable” in my review, and that still stands. The story is not up to what we are used to, the shaky cam is back in full force, and it actually has pacing issues.

The acting is passable, and there's nothing negative to be said about the action (if you can stand the shaky cam), but there's something about this movie that coats my brain in a non-stick layer, and the only thing that sticks there past the credits is that I find Alicia Vikander rather attractive.

Jason Bourne worth the watch then?

If you haven't seen it...sure. As for rewatching...not unless you are rewatching all of them.

Old review below...

If you can ignore the constant shaky-cam and the corny dialog (not that there is a lot of it), Jason Bourne is a somewhat entertaining action movie.

I know most people either love or hate this movie, but to me, this is the ultimate in "entertaining-but-forgettable". It's not bad, but not especially good either. We did leave the movie theater feeling entertained, but the movie faded to oblivion before we got back home. We did, however, agree that we had to find time to rewatch the first three movies soon...

If you liked the first movies, watch it. It is, after all, a new chapter in the story about Jason Bourne.

I really wanted to enjoy this but man, what a stinkbomb. As much as I enjoyed Matt Damon's Jason Bourne in the first three, it should have ended there. If you're a fan of the Jason Bourne movies and haven't made it to this one yet, do yourself a huge favor and stop. So. Many. Things. WRONG. about this steaming turd.

The lunacy begins with a supposed-to-be high-ranking CIA official (granted, she's "just" the Director of Cybersecurity Operations) who looks like she's not even old enough to be a college graduate. I suppose they could have written some freak twist into the story about her being some sort of genius ( a la "Spenser" on Criminal Minds ) but even that would have been a ridiculous stretch. They didn't even try that, however; they just threw a 20-year old kid with her hair piled on her head (I suppose that was some feeble attempt to make her look "older", "more mature", perhaps? It didn't work...) into the mix and said, "Here. You're supposed to be the Director of CyberSecurity Operations for the CIA." and she's supposed to make that work. She didn't. As if that weren't silly enough, she tries to adopt this "hard-as-nails" persona that worked marvelously for Joan Allen (as "Pamela Landy") in The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum . Alicia Vikander, as "Heather Lee", is barely past sucking her thumb but she's supposed to be this bad mamba jamba who's ready to take on Jason Bourne solo. She didn't make that work either. In fact, she really did absolutely NOTHING for this movie; nothing she tried came across as genuine or believable, including the accent that I never could tell what it was: was she British with an excellent American English accent, or American with a bad British accent? Honestly, she kept fumbling between both so it was impossible to tell whether she was supposed to be British or American. Either way, she failed miserably.

Tommy Lee Jones, as per his usual charming self, was a maestro. I love seeing in him almost anything, and he certainly didn't fail here. He played his part to the hilt and just oozed the sliminess that his character was so obviously supposed to ooze. Loved his character, loved the Jason Bourne character, loved the Nicky Parsons (played by the always-charming Julia Stiles) character for the short time she was in this film. No one else - including the Aaron Kalloor blatant ripoff of Mark Zuckerberg character, played by Riz Ahmed - was even memorable. Seriously. There was absolutely no depth to these characters...sadly, not even Jason Bourne in this one. Damon's character consistently waffled between cold-blooded killer and sad puppy, but he couldn't pull off the sad puppy here like he did in the original. By the time you arrive at Jason Bourne you're already familiar with his story so it's difficult to continue feeling sorry for the poor guy whose identity was taken from him. Especially when he narrates the opening credits, "I remember now. I remember everything."

If the acting weren't atrocious enough (and it was), this entire film carried almost a cartoonish effect. The non-stop "action" was so ridiculously unbelievable that it was difficult...heck, nearly impossible...to get into even as an "action flick". I absolutely love a good action movie, and this one had it...in excess. I've never seen vehicles that we so utterly indestructible, but there you have it, ladies and germs. You can plow through bumper-to-bumper night-life traffic on the Las Vegas strip if you're driving a SWAT van...or a Dodge Charger. Never even flatten a tire.

Everything - EVERYTHING - that was good in the first three (notice I didn't say "first four" because that other thing doesn't count) Bourne movies was completely wrong here. Even the ending was a tired rehash.

Don't watch this. Just watch the first three movies - The Bourne Identity , The Bourne Supremacy , and The Bourne Ultimatum in that order - and leave the others alone. Especially this one.

Putrid.

Good, but it’s kinda uninspired at the same time.
The main problem is the script: it doesn’t really drop the ball or anything, but you can tell that they didn’t have a good idea of what else to do with this character, and the stuff with Riz Ahmed feels tacked on.
Still, just like with the bad Bond movies, it has such an interesting main character that it’ll keep you engaged, even if the movie surrounding him could be better.
It has solid acting for the most part (Julia Stiles was quite bad though) and a few memorable action sequences (the whole riot scene in Greece is amazing from a directorial, cinematographic and editing perspective).
The music is great, it knows how to build tension and thrills, and this series hasn’t lost its visceral sensibilities.
I get why people call it a disappointment, but you also have to look at it from a broader perspective.
If you look at this as an isolated piece, judging the movie on its own merits (and not just in comparison to the original trilogy), you can only conclude that this is still above average for an action thriller - that standard being your annual Liam Neeson taken rip off.

6.5

Okay before I talk about "Jason Bourne" let me talk about the other films first, as I think this is the perfect time to quickly talk about other ones, because I like the Bourne trilogy.

The Bourne Identity was a great movie not because of the action or anything, but because of the mystery surrounding the main character. Matt Damon was the perfect choice to play Jason Bourne as I can't imagine anyone else taking that role.

The Bourne Supremacy did a lot of things better than Identity, in terms of the ending, the emotion and just how violent it is. The one thing that no one talks about in Supremacy is how smart it is of delivering the emotion from characters. There's no sad music or overly dramatic dialogue to make you feel something; no, it was all from the actors who had to deliver that and they absolutely do. It honestly made it more effective.

The Bourne Ultimatum was just amazing and I do think it's one of the best action movies in the last decade. The movie is non-stop action and it's so filled with energy, after it's over you need rest from it. The way the movie ends, I thought it was the end for the franchise. But many wonder if another movie was to come, but many seem to think that "Ultimatum" was the last one.

Oh and I'm not counting "Legacy" as part of the series, because lets just ignore that one.

But here we are with "Jason Bourne". Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass return to the franchise and while l thought this installment was an enjoyable one, but it's not as great as the others, unfortunately.

The best part of Jason Bourne was it's opening action sequence with an incredible motorbike chase during a riot. It was quick, intense, exciting and insistently hooks you. The rest of the action was pretty damn good and fights are once again brutal. The one thing this movie does not disappoint on is it's action.

Matt Damon once again dose a great performance as Bourne and after all these years it doesn't feel like he missed a step.

Tommy Lee Jones is basically TLJ, but he was still good. Even with his motivates not being that strong and the character itself isn't anything that compelling.

Alicia Vikander and Julie Stiles were both fine in the movie. They did a decent performance in this and it's always nice to see those two in movies.

Vincent Cassel is an excellent actor and he makes for a perfect hitman to go after Bourne. While the gifted actor is great in this, I wished there was more of him.

Everything was going great....until the actual story of the movie starts. The story evolves around people being concerned about privacy on social media and most of the movie dedicates to this plot. This is when the movie goes down hill and it doesn't take long for that to happen. This story line is so uninteresting and not at all needed for a movie like this. I know this movie is trying something different and there is somewhat of a revenge story here that's not just from the hero perspective but the villain as well. Nothing about this was riveting and it had no emotional weight to it.

The writing was pretty lackluster and not really compelling. Again, the social media plot line really grinded this movie down. This should have been a full on revenge movie and while that may be repetitive for some, but hey, it's got to be better than this. What breaks my heart is that there were plenty of times where this movie could have went into a interesting direction, but instead chooses to stick with the social media crap.

While I thought the Las Vegas chase was pretty enjoyable, I did think it was a little over the top. What I like so much about the previous Bourne movies is how the action scenes feel so realistic and I'm not saying it's like real life, but it was realistic enough to keep you on edge during those sequences. But here, it goes full out nuts with cars flipping and flying in the air. There were so many times where Bourne should have died and the villain as well. It's completely mad.

Overall rating: I enjoyed "Jason Bourne" on an action movie standpoint. There's a lot of things to like in this movie with the directing, the acting and the action, but judging it as a film overall, it was pretty meh. Compare it to Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum, this was unfortunately a massive step down from those three. This movie should have been spectacular but it sadly wasn't.

At least it's better than "Legacy"

Although I feel like this movie didn't really make a huge difference within the Bourne series, I must say that I enjoyed it very much. I can't figure out why Jason Bourne is such a likable character, but what I do know is that this movie worked because of his likable-ness (is that a word?). I really liked Alica Vikander her character as well. Heather Lee was quite hard to figure out, and I would be very interested in getting to know more about what is going to happen to her, her career and her "relationship" with Bourne.

Something that keeps me watching these movies is that I really want to know more about Jason his past, and I think this movie gave us a great insight about a part of his live we didn't really know a lot about just yet. I enjoyed the storyline a lot, although it wasn't spectacularly different from the rest. I forgot how many "chasing-Bourne" scenes these movies had, I felt like this movie had a bit too much of it and that is probably the only thing that I kind of disliked.

This may not be my favorite Bourne movie, but it was very likable and seeing the end of it, I sure hope that there is one more movie on it's way to make a fine ending to this great series.