[23]

The entirety of Jason Bourne felt like the beginning of one of the previous Bourne movies.

On my 13th birthday, I pleaded to my parents to buy me a pony. They surprisingly rejected my birthday wish (thanks guys).. My other wish was to watch the newest and (at the time) last EVER Bourne movie, The Bourne Ultimatum… For my 22nd, my best friend took myself & the crew out to the resurgence of Bourne with Jason Bourne, one of my most anticipated movies of the year/my life.

I’m not even mad at the final product…

I’m disappointed .

disclaimer: I won’t be discussing The Bourne Legacy in this review. Any mention of the previous Bourne films refer to the original three (Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum) starring Matt Damon.

It wasn’t the worst action movie in the world. Far from it. The action set pieces were quite entertaining and honestly, it was just so nice seeing Matt Damon in the role that made me fall in love with him… I don’t mind so much that they focused on Bourne’s past again because those kind of new revelations could be enthralling af and, in the first half of the movie new revelations arose that made me genuinely intrigued, but the entire plot felt very paint-by-numbers and not up to the Bourne standards we are used to. There were one or two twists/turns that felt interesting and a few scenes that were great but overall, the story just really wasn’t that invigorating.

Alicia motherfucking Vikander was the shining light in this dreary hole. She is easily the best part & addition to the franchise. I truly loved her portrayal of the young and naive yet cunning Heather Lee and I believe this woman can do no wrong. Matt Damon gives a relatively neutral performance with nothing too spectacular coming out of him which was a major disappointment since one of my favourite aspects to Bourne in the Trilogy was Damon’s ability to emote with his eye movements… This scene from Supremacy pops up in my mind where he’s completely stone faced yet his eyes gradually look up at the CIA Agent on the phone and he knows he has to conjure up a plan to escape. This was in the second film though, so maybe if another Bourne is made he’ll be able to gauge that performance again if the material is there. Tommy Lee Jones is also in the movie. He’s just there. I honestly believe he gave up on acting like 20 years ago so now he just shows up on set when he’s around and speaks the words on the paper.

As I mentioned, the action set pieces were entertaining but not engaging. There was a ton of shit happening on screen that definitely pleased the eye, but I probably won’t ever feel the need to revisit it again, save for a scene or two. I actually didn’t mind the staple Paul Greengrass shaky cam since I really loved that aspect in the latter two Bourne films. The shaky cam for Jason Bourne was enjoyable, although I could have done without the shaking when characters looked at their phones and that final fight scene… Ooh boy. Our climactic final fight scene was reduced to When Shaky Cam Goes Bad and the editing cuts were everywhere. The dialogue was a bit clunky at certain parts and during a particularly important fight sequence more should have been said! Also the fucking hacking, dude. It was honestly laughable at times.

Any self-respecting movie, TV series, book, alien manifesto, whatever should never use the words “enhance” or “mainframe” in their works when dealing with the hacking.

I don’t want to bring up the previous Bournes too much but another aspect of the Trilogy I admired were the antagonists. The people who wanted to bring Bourne down. What I loved so much about the Trilogy was the fact that these damn people weren’t mustache-twirlers who wanted to see him burn. They had legitimate concerns with Jason Bourne surfacing and were actual characters with flaws and difficulties that were multiplied when faced with dealing with him. There was also a social media/privacy subplot that I actually didn’t mind as much as others, however I honestly think they could’ve cut down virtually every scene about it and only focused on the Technology Convention, leaving more room for Bourne & co.’s development… MILD SPOILERS: There was also a blatant slap in the face that occurred toward the beginning of the movie that was shoehorned in ONLY to create a “gasp! Drama!” moment. The entire fucking movie would’ve had the same outcome had this not occurred and it truly upset me. END MILD SPOILERS.

If you’re a fan of the Bourne Trilogy and are looking for an addition to this beloved franchise that is at the same calibre of the previous three or better, Jason Bourne that is not. If you’re looking for a blockbuster with entertaining action sequences and would like to see where everyone’s favourite CIA asset has been for the past nine years, check out Jason Bourne.

Jason Bourne receives 3/5 Matt Damon heads.