Jason Bourne is the most refreshing change of pace I've seen this year.
Going into this movie I was starting to lose faith in the potential quality of big-budget releases in the modern era, with most blockbusters this summer ranging somewhere between uninspiring and mediocre, but this Jason Bourne fits in neither of these two categories. This is going to be one of the more positive reviews I've done in a while so I just want to get the negatives of this movie out of the way right off the bat. The story, while incorporating a lot of good elements that serve to reinvigorate the series, was kind of a retread of what we've seen before. In saying this, the same statement could be made about any of the previous Bourne sequels and both of them (the ones starring Matt Damon I mean) were well received and excellent in their own merit. The only other thing I had a problem with was the inclusion of Julia Stiles' character, Nicky Parsons. Stiles didn't look interested at all and her inclusion, while a nice bit of continuity, didn't have the effect on the narrative that it should have.
Now that's all out of the way, let me just say this: the action in Jason Bourne is the best you will see this year. The motorcycle chase through the streets of Athens in the film's first act is absolutely brilliant, only topped by the downright insane car chase at the movie's climax. I can only imagine how much fun those scenes must have been to shoot, and the love that director Paul Greengrass has for this type of sequence translates amazingly well on screen. The hand-to-hand combat is just as it has been with every other Bourne film: gritty and intense. The fist fights in Bourne are head and shoulders above those featured in other action franchises simply due to their realistic nature and hard-hitting feel. The shaky-cam style of filmmaking makes a welcome return, and overall I think it's safe to say that Greengrass and cinematographer Barry Ackroyd have once again knocked it out of the park. If Matt Damon knocking a man out with one punch or a large SWAT truck crashing through a plethora of other vehicles is your type of thing then I'd highly recommend you see this film.
Speaking of Matt Damon, the man can do no wrong as Bourne. His most beloved character, Damon does not have a lot of dialogue in this movie, but he encapsulates the character so much that he can do more with one simple look over his shoulder than lesser actors could with a monologue penned in collaboration by Arron Sorkin, Quentin Tarrintino and Richard Linklater. Damon knows how to do Bourne and he is as impressive as ever in this outing. Tommy-Lee Jones is a standout as Robert Dewey, the villainous director of the CIA. Dewey gruff demeanour combined with an almost gentleman-like charm make him very endearing as a villain, and Jones is very careful to keep his evil nature very close to the surface. In saying all this, Alicia Vikander steals the movie. Anytime she is on-screen she grabs your attention. Vikander (who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress at this year's ceremony) is subtle in her performance that she would have you believe that her character is a one-dimensional good guy who wants to fight against the corruption at the top of the ladder. Yet every line she utters is laced with subtext, and if you look deeper then you will see that her ambition is really what drives her throughout the entire film. Straddling the line between hero and villain, I think that Vikander's Heather Lee will be a brilliant foil for Damon's Bourne should the rumoured further sequels transpire.
The cherry on top of this sundae is simply the fact that this is a blockbuster that makes you think. The underlying themes of this film made me leave the theatre and still think about what I'd seen days before, as well as serving to amplify the film's central story. The conflict between Dewey and Lee mirrors the idea of clashing generations that we are seeing today. Dewey represents an older generation who's seen it all and done it all but refuses to accept he should take a finished role in a world he's beginning to no longer understand, while Lee personifies the young generation who want change and the control to make that change but may overestimate the task they have at hand. The other conflict that runs throughout the film is the argument over the pros and cons of surveillance. While it would be nice to have seen this explored a bit more, the film actually did offer some good counter-arguments to the usual pro-privacy stance traditionally taken by left-wing Hollywood. Combine this with Bourne's continuing struggle to find his place in the world and you have a blockbuster that isn't all just explosions and set-pieces, but one that actually has something interesting to say about the world we live in today.
Overall, Jason Bourne is a prime example of a big-budget movie made with precision and passion. Paul Greengrass knows how to handle this character, and he delivers once again here with stunning action sequences that will have you glued to the screen. I really don't understand why this movie hasn't been more universally praise, and I can only assume that this critical divisiveness is backlash from all the lacklustre sequels and reboots that have come to the screens in recent years. While I would count myself among those who champion original properties and think that we should be seeing more of them on our screen, a franchise film should be given the curtesy of being judged on its own merit.
My recommendation would definitely be that if you are to see any action movie this summer, it should be Jason Bourne. I guarantee you will be entertained.
Score: 8.6/10
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