Ben Oliver

Now
Banner image for Jason Bourne
film

Jason Bourne

Why would he come back now?
29 July 2016

Genetically Modified Amnesiac Super Spy Jason Bourne gets some information about his past that leads him on a trail across the globe.

This marks Matt Damon’s return to the Bourne franchise, and as a fan of the original trilogy I must say I had my hopes up for this one. The character is an interesting one, sort of an anti-James Bond; always having to improvise rather than relying on gadgets and luck (although one could argue the outcome is always the same…), and I was curious to see what this had to offer.

It’s a shame then that this film is a bit of a swing and a miss. Bourne is someone who famously goes to extreme measures to get the job done, but a complete lack of substance in the plot makes it feel like all his arse-kicking goes to waste here. The ill-advised cyber-privacy-Edward-Snowden theme is boring and Bourne isn’t really the right man for the job, so everything he does is futile.

Jason Bourne is far from a Jason Bore though. The cat-and-mouse chases vary between clever and tense operations to balls-to-the-wall car chase craziness, and it’s all pretty well put together. Perhaps I was sat too close to the cinema screen but the shaky camera is a little nauseating this time, especially when we are supposed to be able to read on phone screens. However, it’s undeniably entertaining stuff.

It’s cool to see Bourne back in action, but sadly the hastily cobbled together plot and terrible writing let the film down. It’s a pedestrian entry into what was a clever and quite edgy franchise.

Fun-fact: Alicia Vikander has starred in every single film made since Jan. 2015.