I had semi high hopes for this one as the original cast and director (Paul Greengrass) returned for this latest installment - as compared with the rather lame reboot with Jeremy Renner a few years back.
Jason Bourne has a great first act and a terrific chase scene in the middle of a Greek protest that ends up turning into mob anarchy. Bourne is off boxing to make ends meet and Julia Stiles is trying to approach him again in order to tell him some new bits of his past which she's uncovered as well as new CIA black ops. Unfortunately, things go down from there. Tommy Lee Jones wasn't particularly good and even sexy Alicia Vikander couldn't save the final two acts (and her acting was excellent for what she was given). The plot turns pretty silly and overdone when Lee and Vikander start working against each other. It seems like every CIA director is a "bad guy" which is stale.
The third act takes place in Vegas and perhaps predictably, has an overdone, "bigger and badder" chase scene with an armored truck down the middle of the strip (basically lifted straight out of Fast & Furious). The writers tried to put a Facebook privacy vs. anti-Snowden conflict throughout the movie, but it oddly felt disconnected and just wasn't strong enough to carry the film.
Overall, what keeps you enthralled in the first few films is beneath the fight for survival is the awakening of Bourne's consciousness and responding emotion - whether it was with the gypsy girl in Identity or the child of an assassinated family in the Supremacy or the Landy relationship in the Ultimatum. Jason Bourne was devoid of emotion and therefore, just an average, unpalatable script. I'll rate it a "B" version of the genre but not anything as good as the trilogy (which I happened to re-watch a few weeks back).
Jason Bourne has a great first act and a terrific chase scene in the middle of a Greek protest that ends up turning into mob anarchy. Bourne is off boxing to make ends meet and Julia Stiles is trying to approach him again in order to tell him some new bits of his past which she's uncovered as well as new CIA black ops. Unfortunately, things go down from there. Tommy Lee Jones wasn't particularly good and even sexy Alicia Vikander couldn't save the final two acts (and her acting was excellent for what she was given). The plot turns pretty silly and overdone when Lee and Vikander start working against each other. It seems like every CIA director is a "bad guy" which is stale.
The third act takes place in Vegas and perhaps predictably, has an overdone, "bigger and badder" chase scene with an armored truck down the middle of the strip (basically lifted straight out of Fast & Furious). The writers tried to put a Facebook privacy vs. anti-Snowden conflict throughout the movie, but it oddly felt disconnected and just wasn't strong enough to carry the film.
Overall, what keeps you enthralled in the first few films is beneath the fight for survival is the awakening of Bourne's consciousness and responding emotion - whether it was with the gypsy girl in Identity or the child of an assassinated family in the Supremacy or the Landy relationship in the Ultimatum. Jason Bourne was devoid of emotion and therefore, just an average, unpalatable script. I'll rate it a "B" version of the genre but not anything as good as the trilogy (which I happened to re-watch a few weeks back).
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