This very ‘meh’ film was probably a bad idea, with the fact that it is a sequel serving as a double-edged sword.
I love a good spy movie. I am a die-hard James Bond fan (our Jeremy Lye and I are the biggest Bond dorks in the newsroom), and I’ve also enjoyed the Bourne film series (the one exception being Legacy)…so, you can imagine my excitement when I first saw the trailer earlier last year.
And thank goodness (maybe) – Matt Damon is back in the Jason Bourne seat! The film also stars Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons, Tommy Lee Jones as CIA Director Roberty Deweny, and (one of my new favourite actresses) Alicia Vikander as Heather Lee, an ambitious CIA agent.
This time around, we’re learning a little bit more about Bourne, and his identity. We also learn a bit more about two CIA operations: Treadstone (basically, how Bourne came to be), and Iron Hand. Since the events of Ultimatium, Bourne is travelling the world (and staying alive) as an illegal fighter. Of course, circumstances toss him back into the fray, and now, it’s up to Bourne to discover those truths about his past, while also trying to dodge a deadly assassin (Vincent Cassel).
It took me about a day or so, after seeing the movie, to realize how lukewarm I felt about it. I wasn’t wowed, I wasn’t excited – which basically tells me that this movie seems to have been done for appeasement purposes (partly for the studios, partly for the audience/fans), and not really to take the story further. We’ve got different people in similar roles, and there’s nothing to really toss your hat into the air over. Damon is a sight for sore eyes (over Jeremy Renner – sorry, Jeremy), but, I have to ask myself if that is good enough this time around. The answer is an incredibly weak yes. Sorry to say it, but I was more excited about the “BOURNE IS BACK!” hype, than the actual content of the movie.
The story can get a little confusing. I know a lot of people seemed to enjoy the action aspects of the movie; that’s what I found myself leaning on as a source of excitement as I took in this film. I highly doubt this is the end of the franchise, but I would have been a lot happier just ending the darn thing at Ultimatum. Fans will find themselves rushing to the theatres, and I think the box office will get a couple of stragglers who are on the fence, with all of the hype.
Hopefully, if they do another Bourne movie, it’ll be one where we get to care more about the characters and story, and not so much about the media attention the movie is getting as it heads into theatres. 2 Bourne sequels out of 5.
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