When the original three Jason Bourne movies came out they had a lot of impact on how others made movies. Director Paul Greengrass became well-known for his way of shooting, quickly labeled shaky cam. Because of that action looked more dynamic and raw. But also the character of Bourne in this spy thriller has had a lot of influence. You can see that realistic approach of Bourne during fights and using the situation in the first Bond movie starring Daniel Craig. After the third Bourne movie both Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon decided they had told Bourne’s story and stepped away from the franchise. The studio decided to make The Bourne Legacy starring Jeremy Renner, but it was disappointing. Both Greengrass and Damon probably felt an itch to return as they are now here for the fourth movie starring the titular character.
Bourne no longer is a spy and is now making his money as a street fighter and makes sure he doesn’t get noticed by the intelligence agencies. But Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), who no longer works for the CIA, decides to illegally collect data which contains new information which Bourne might find interesting. She succeeds in locating him in Greece. Because of Parsons the CIA, led by Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones) knows where to find him. Head of cybersecurity Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander) is able to track them and teams are sent to kill them. It’s the start of a new search for answers by Jason Bourne.
For me Matt Damon is one of those actors I will watch in pretty much any movie he is in. I really enjoyed the previous three Bourne movies and I was looking forward to seeing Greengrass/Damon working together again as I had high expectations. Unfortunately those weren’t met. When I watch a Bourne film I expect a couple of things: realism, adrenaline filled fights, chases and Bourne outwitting others. And even though this fourth movie contains all those elements they don’t work as they should have. There is a lot of hacking in this movie and a show like Mr. Robot shows how to do so realistically. When Heather Lee starts typing to start a special algorithm or is able to enhance low resolution imagery it is clear you are watching “Hollywood hacking”, which just feels disappointing and unrealistic.
It also has a couple of fights, but on the big screen and because of both shaky cam and quick editing it gets pretty hard to understand what is going on. The movie also has a couple of chase scenes. One in the streets of Athens feels exciting and realistic, but when one happens later in the movie in Las Vegas it feels like watching a different movie. Bourne is chasing someone who is driving a SWAT truck which acts like a tank and is able to plough through a long line of stationary cars without slowing down or getting damaged. It’s just unrealistic and doesn’t feel believable anymore. Bourne isn’t always a step ahead of others and regularly ends up in situations where you’d expect him to be more careful. Add to that a script which isn’t convincing the viewer that this is a story that needs to be told and you end up with a disappointing movie which is easily the worst of the ones starring Damon.
I totally enjoyed the heck out of this film, I thought it’s as good as the first three films. I know you mentioned a lot about being realistic, you may have to re-watch the first three films again, some of the car chases in those films didn’t look “real” to me. But they all looked cool on the big screen. 🙂
I like the Bourne films but it’s going to be difficult to keep up the standards of the last one. Still, I’m eager to see this one. Good piece Nostra.