Yes, it’s been more than a while since the last film review. I haven’t been to the cinema since the new Star Wars last December. So I was hoping for a treat when I booked to see the new Jason Bourne film titled…”Jason Bourne”
After the Bourne trilogy, Damon famously stated he would not return as Bourne saying “We have ridden that horse as far as we can.” Anyway, that wasn’t to be and he’s back. We join Bourne who’s still on the run from the CIA and trying hard to find the backstory of his father who was involved in something shady that involved grainy flashbacks and ultimately a rather predictable rendezvous with a car bomb in the sepia-laden Far East. There is a smell of corruption withhin the Agency in the form of Robert Dewey played by the wrinkly, watchable, yet minimally expressive Tommy Lee Jones. And there is an Agent Starling sort called Heather Lee, (played by Alicia Vikander) a CIA Cyber Ops Division banging her head against the chauvinistic, patriarchal top brass in suits, clichés straight out of Working Girl.
A fan of the trilogy, I found this film was quite light on storyline. Without the run up of a thorough backstory that a trilogy provides, it was unable to develop the complex intricacies of the earlier films, leaving the story quite two dimensional and feeling like an additional after thought many years later. I remember the famous end credits used to symbolise the twists and turns one experienced with the plot. This film deserved nothing more complex than a bus map! Consequently it relied heavily on the action sequences. And there is nothing wrong with that. However, the action is always chases! There were 3 major car chases and quite a lot of “running through a crowd” chases. Remember the ubiquitous sex and cigarette scenes of the 80’s and 90’s. Well, the car chase has become just as much of a cliché. Other than a burning car in one of the chases, there was no fresh or original angle that other franchises (such as Bond) feature in their films.
And the script wasn’t up to much either. One line that made me smart was from Heather Lee about Bourne. “He’s seen things. He knows things.” Don’t get too technical will you! And that pretty much epitomised the blandness of the script.
The film was ok, for an afternoon out of the house. But shouldn’t have been a Bourne film as it let the trilogy down. Sorry.
Yes I’m back and as ruthless as ever. [rating=2]