Another Jason Bourne
film will always be welcome. The initial trilogy with Matt Damon just got
better as it went on and the parallel move sideways with The Bourne Legacy (2012) added to the Bourne universe. This fifth
instalment, fourth with Damon, third directed by Greengrass is, unfortunately,
the weakest of the group (but still better than most Bond films).
That’s not to say that
Jason Bourne doesn’t have an
important message to tell and it is clear to see why Greengrass and Damon felt
the time was right for another outing. Here we find the manhunt for Bourne (a
familiar narrative arc; he needs another situation thrown at him) set against
the backdrop of information leaks and privacy, Islamic terrorism funded by
Western regimes and technology giants selling our information. The landscape
for Bourne is ripe.
In this post Snowden,
post ISIS world, writers Greengrass and Rouse balance the muddled, uncertain,
unknowable political issues very well. While the film starts very busy, it
settles down into a solid action thriller. It just doesn’t have the impact, in
action or narrative that previous Bourne films have had. Bourne ends the film
in the same place he began it, with a new nemesis, maybe, but these films have
always been about Bourne, not the antagonist. As you would expect, the action
is impressively handled, but has nothing that matches the roof top chase and following
fight of The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).
Bourne will always be
welcome, but this film shows us that he needs shaking up a bit.
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