Rating of
2.5/4
Jason Bourne - Movie Review
Matthew Brady - wrote on 08/07/16
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"
