Jason Bourne

Score:  ***1/2 out of ***** (B)

Directed by Paul Greengrass
Starring Matt Damon, Alicia Vikander, Tommy Lee Jones
Running time: 123 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Matt Damon returns to arguably his most famous role as Jason Bourne for the first time in nearly a decade.  He slips easily back into the silent but tough mystery man, and there's plenty more fun chase and action scenes here.  However, the series strays from its storytelling roots in going bigger, and it's a turn for the worse.  There's some good potential that was left on the table here, but it's still an entertaining time at the movies.


Former CIA asset Jason Bourne (Damon) is living off the grid when an old friend - and fellow former CIA employee - Nicky Parsons (Stiles) drops in for a surprise visit.  She has joined an international hacking group which managed to penetrate the CIA's server and retrieve information on top secret projects, several of which directly relate to Bourne.  CIA Director Dewey (Jones) tracks Parsons, however, and Bourne barely escapes a riot-consumed Athens on his way to further investigate the leaks.  Dewey has been working to partner with a Silicon Valley-like CEO who is unveiling a newly integrated social media platform, and is determined to put an end to the Bourne loose end once and for all.

When Dewey attempts to bring down Bourne in London, who meets with a former CIA contact, one of his top cyber espionage officers, Heather Lee (Vikander), decides to give Bourne a chance.  After another close escape, Lee tells Bourne where to find Dewey, who is off to meet with his social media ally.  Even though it will put him right in the hornet's nest, Bourne is driven to confront Dewey and discover the full truth behind the secrets Parsons unveiled.

Jason Bourne has a strong cast of mostly new faces in this fifth installment of the franchise.  Matt Damon returns as Bourne for the first time in nine years, and it's difficult to detect any difference in his performance from the earlier films.  Of course, that's hardly a bad thing as Damon has made Bourne into an intriguing figure, a man of few words and ever-furrowed brow who nonetheless conveys deep inner turmoil and acts for justice, both his own and the world's.  All's well here.  He is once again joined by a woman on the inside who (at least partly) tries to help him, this time played by bright young star Alicia Vikander.  Vikander aces the outwardly business-like, even stoic presence of her talented, savvy, tech-genius CIA agent.  But she also communicates her discomfort with the CIA's stance on Bourne, mostly with her face; Greengrass's style gives plenty of close-ups, which has the added bonus of showing off Vikander's stunning beauty.  Tommy Lee Jones is the new big bad at the CIA, and of course he's a perfect choice.  His character has little nuance, but Jones is so good at these roles and he doesn't phone it in here.  There's also an evil super soldier for Bourne to contend with, as always, though this time he, played by Vincent Cassel, gets a bit more to do than his predecessors.

Jason Bourne is at least as thrilling an action film as previous films in the franchise, but the plot is a significant downgrade.  Admittedly, there's a bit less tension to the action here, since the feel is quite similar and so we know essentially what to expect, but it's still excellently choreographed and shot.  Bourne's escape through Athens, as the city is exploding with rioting, is the best action sequence I can remember in the franchise.  There's also an entertaining car chase in Vegas, though a bit over the top and at one point disturbingly reminiscent of the Nice, France tragedy.  And of course, a great, all-out slugfest between Bourne and "the Asset".  Unfortunately, the story suffers from being too similar to previous entries, while at the same time even less plausible and too trendy.  As mentioned with Jones, the bad guy is basically the same as always and predictable, but he also goes quite a bit further in his evil than one expects in a Bourne movie - too far, yet without much sense of the implications.  And the main plot also involves the government trying to make the mother of all tech surveillance programs... *yawn* which is painfully obvious bandwagon jumping, and is too on-the-nose, anyway, for Bourne.  Fortunately the pacing is quite good which keeps the two-hour run time clicking just fine, and the script - within its disappointing overall framework - is solidly done.

***

Jason Bourne is a good movie, very well done in some ways yet lazy enough in others that it doesn't quite measure up in the high quality franchise.  It has been a while since I've seen the first three films, but as I remember they offered tighter, tenser, more personal stakes and scope than this more broadly staged entry.  Broad is fine, but that's entering Bond territory and the franchise is better off staying on its own turf.  Still, the action is still a lot of fun and Damon is as good as ever.  And Vikander was a great new addition, who could possibly be in the next film if they make another.  Her character was poised to have a unique, series-altering ambiguity, but the film even spoiled that right at the end, which for me is the last straw in bringing it down to a "B" from a "B+".  If you want an entertaining time at the movies - as I've been saying for the last few weeks - here's another good choice.  It won't go down as a classic, but it's an alternative for those wishing to avoid its sci-fi competition.



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