Jason Bourne - D+

Quick Hit: Superfluous to the max, this sequel really doesn’t have much to offer you.


In honor of Shannon’s birthday yesterday, today we’re doing a post starring who else? Matt Damon! So what is Damon’s quintessential role? I can hear some of you out there saying, “It’s not your fault”, but no, it’s not Good Will Hunting. I think most people these days associate Matt Damon with his turn in the Bourne trilogy (quadrology? Pentalogy? I’m not sure. Shannon says the fourth one doesn’t count).

​He returns in this film to the title role. Bourne is back! Chasing down government operatives, uncovering things that the government is doing to us secretly, and being an all-around BA.
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Did I mention that he chases people?

Did I mention that he chases people?

Did I mention that he chases people?

And he scowls. A few times.

Was that annoying? I’m sorry, but if you want an indication of why this movie was a bit of a failure, it’s because of this. Chase scenes are pretty fun in movies. I’m all for a bit of Gone in 60 Seconds or Italian Job type action. I’m all for the “good guy” chasing down someone through the streets, or getting a frantic getaway. The problem is that we’ve seen it before. A lot. The series has gone stale, because nothing new is being added.

The plot of this one circles around a social media mogul who has a shady back-alley deal with the government (aka Tommy Lee Jones) so that they can spy on us. Snowden is inevitably brought up, because that brought to light a lot of people’s worst fear – the government is spying on us. But coming so long after the WikiLeaks scandal, this doesn’t quite carry much weight in the movie. Instead, it seems to land with a thud, and the characters themselves don’t really seem to carry much.

Bourne now remembers everything, but it doesn’t make him a happier man. Instead, he seems to be searching for meaning – which is I guess why he is allowing some Russian guy to beat him up in his first scene. After a series regular appears, we follow along with Bourne as he discovers more about his past

and initial motivations. This is all good fun, but the quick editing cuts in the actions scenes are a bit too much now – instead of allowing us to slowly build to violence, every scene seems to be solely about it.

The best addition to this film was Alicia Vikander.    She     plays    a    CIA   operative   who 

disagrees with the ultimate decision to do away with Bourne, and instead wants to bring him back. The things he knows, she argues, would add to the agency. Is she right? We’ll never know, because her character motivations are confusing, undeveloped, and ultimately, unrelatable to the lay person. And the script gives her far too little to work with. A better movie would have allowed a semblance of a professional relationship to develop between herself and Bourne.

If you want my honest opinion, it’s that you should end the series with The Bourne Ultimatum. This movie isn’t really worth the two hours you’ll put in. I’m giving it a “D+”, and I think a lot of that is nostalgia for the originals.

For more on this, check out IMDB.