JASON BOURNE (2016)

Action/Thriller
Directed By: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander​
For Fans Of: The other Bourne films
​My Rating: 7 out of 10

Franchises are funny things, often they don't know when to quit. I had more than a little reservation about the prospect of another Bourne movie, especially after a brilliant first trilogy which I really loved. We then got a pretty lacklustre addition to the franchise starring Jeremy Renner which, don't get me wrong, wasn't 'terrible' but it also was completely unnecessary and severely lacking anything original to make it stand up with the others, so my fear was this one would also follow suit. What made this one more interesting was that Paul Greengrass was back in the director's chair. Paul who had done the original trilogy, and he also had Matt Damon back in the role of Jason Bourne. But could this serve up anything fresh? Well the answer is a pretty big NO if I am being honest.

It felt very much like just another Bourne movie similar to all the others before it, very similar story and very predictable too. I kind of felt it needed a twist of some sort to truly inspire but that twist never came, and perhaps it was more action movie than thriller which I would say was the only thing that felt different to the original trilogy. This was disappointing overall but I have to say the movie was still a decent one. It wasn’t going to inspire to the dizzy heights the originals did yet it was still very watchable nonetheless. The main reason for that was Matt Damon.

Matt was excellent back in the role of Bourne, and for me thats why the previous film Legacy felt a little off. Jeremy Renner was great but it just wasn't the same. Damon is this franchise and it was great to see him back in the saddle. The action shots were great and truly made up for the lacklustre story around it and credit therefore must also go to Greengrass as some action scenes were incredible. A chase around Athens being a particular edge of your seat highlight. As for the supporting cast, Tommy Lee Jones gave a decent performance as CIA director Robert Dewey and Alicia Vikander was good as Heather Lee but none shone above Damon himself.

It was good without being great. Turn off your brain for 2 hours and you will definitely enjoy the action sequences, which are very entertaining but this just had little or no substance and therefore for me, it falls a little short of what made the Bourne series great. The mysteries and revelations that occurred in those originals were what made the plots so good, and around that they sprinkled the action to make it a gripping watch but in this movie the action was evidently the greater emphasis and the storytelling took a back seat, a big no no for anyone expecting the intelligent thriller we probably wanted. In essence I am torn with this movie, on the one hand this was a very basic clichéd and overall repetitive addition to the Bourne franchise, something I could not despise more, but on the other hand, I have to hold my hands up and say it was still an entertaining watch despite its flaws. Its top quality action with excellent direction and good performances, but sadly it lacked any originality to make it stand up to its predecessors. So my review ultimatum? Perhaps the Bourne franchise has lost its identity and nothing within this one would suggest further films could add to its legacy.