Jason Bourne

The Bourne franchise started with "The Bourne Identity" back in 2002, continued with "The Bourne Supremacy" in 2004 followed by "The Bourne Ultimatum" in 2007. I do not consider "The Bourne Legacy"(2012) part of this franchise because Matt Damon didn't take part in it and because it has much lower quality in script and filming. "The Bourne Identity"was one of the best action movies I had seen at the time and it really made an impression on me. The sequels were almost as good as the original, although they didn't have the same vibe. I will not go into details about this year's film since I don't want to spoil your fun. If you enjoyed the previous "Bourne" movies you will find "Jason Bourne" at least entertaining.

About the 2016 movie "Jason Bourne", it is an American movie directed by Paul Greengrass(director of "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum")based on a script by Greengrass and Cristopher Rouse, it had a budget of $120.000.000 which definitely paid off in the movie quality. The movie has a solid cast(Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander), good plot, not so good script, no cliché lines, great action/visual effects, it has common sense and it does not defy logic like most action movies do. "Jason Bourne" definitely lives up to the expectations. In this movie we have Jason Bourne knowing who he actually is, cured of amnesia, and battling an even larger enemy than before. There are car chases, well choreographed fight scenes,shootouts,explosions and everything else you would want from an action movie. Even though we are used to seeing Jason Bourne being chased by a government agency we still love it. Unfortunately, this movie has a weak script and plot holes, it is far from the quality of the "Bourne" trilogy. "Jason Bourne" still is one of the best movies released this year and I would confidently give it a 8.0/10.

I have watched over 1200 movies and this one is for sure a good one. I advise you to go watch "Jason Bourne", you sure will enjoy it!

This review may be altered by the fact that I am a "Bourne" fan.

This was a big letdown, I'd had been looking foreword to it for ages too but for the most part this was boring, the story line was... nothing... a same ole Bourne is trying to find out about his past, people in an office looking at computers trying to find him. Just flat, predictable and redundant.

Tommy Lee Jones, wow was he even present for filming? He was just going through the motions here and appeared to shoot most of his scenes from his living room as he's on his own, on the phone or seated at a desk, appearing grumpy (as per) and bored.

Even the synopsis is dull "The CIA's most dangerous former operative is drawn out of hiding to uncover more explosive truths about his past." Meh.

On the plus there are some decent fight scenes, car chases as expected, an exciting motorcycle chase and a great bad guy with Vincent Cassel but nothing stand out or special there, everyone is just going through the motions.

Maybe I should give this another try, did I miss something?

So I'm a big fan of the Bourne trilogy so I did have high expectations going into this one. Just quickly this film is a 6.5/10, but as halves aren't a thing I've rounded up one to 7. I will say off the bat that you could do with watching the other films right before this one, I hadn't seen them for a while so especially in the first half I felt really out the loop. Considering how long it was between the third film and this one (not to mention the Jeremy Renner one in the middle), I expected to be in the loop more.

However, I did find it's a very good action film still. It had some really fun and exciting action scenes and it felt as high octane as you'd want a Bourne film to be. I did find it to be more of your run of the mill action movies and not your more in depth Bourne plots we know and love and that was one of the reasons I've opted for 6.5/10.

Matt Damon does a great job of recapturing the Bourne character I have to say and really impressed me with how he brought it back so well.

I do want to quickly mention that towards the end Jason is in a car crash, no joke you ain't surviving that! And yet he walks out relatively uninjured. That annoyed me a little bit I won't lie.

So yeah, it's a good film and I enjoyed my time watching this one. But I just didn't have that edge that the trilogy films had. For me it's a 6.5/10.

Actually reviews are not supposed to be based on wishful thinking.

Nonetheless for those members who gave this a high rating more out of frustration than anything else, I do feel your pain.

The original Bourne trilogy was not merely good, it was superb. As a top reviewer here with some 1200 reviews under my belt I said more than once that the original was the best spy trilogy I had ever seen and I am unashamed of the fact that I have seen each film in that series four or five times since original release. They are an adrenaline rush, the perfect mix of story, form, and effect.

Even 2012's Bourne Legacy -- a feature where it was ever so clear that Damon had been offered a fortune just to walk-on and smile at the camera, but refused anyway -- was a solid movie, great script, held the attention, and Renner did a great job.

However, now that I have seen Jason Bourne 2016, I cannot help but wish that Damon had agreed to participate in Legacy, rather than be lured back 4 years later for a part he clearly no longer likes, in a production he would rather not be in.

I tend toward "purist" reviews, that is to say, I don't really care WHY a film was made as much as I do about how entertaining is it to watch ...?

(That said, I have to "assume" that Damon broke his vow and came back simply for the cash. And Greengrass agreed to take hold of the camera one more time only if he could get a writing credit too. Ugh!)

So, speaking of entertainment, there is almost none in this movie. The script is a mess. Written by the director for the clear purpose of showcasing his action and camera-work skills, there is no attempt to build connection from the top.

The script is so bad that even viewers in love with the original trilogy -- like this one -- have to keep reminding themselves who Bourne is supposed to be, and what is supposed to motivate him.

(Not to mention major plot holes here and there. Am I the only one who noticed that the most WANTED MAN IN America attempted to enter customs under his own name with no advance certainty that the computer would be "fixed" in time? Remember, from the second film in the series, this is a man who "never guesses and never makes mistakes." Other than accepting to do this film, that is.)

A good film makes the viewer feel good. The scientists call it endorphin production. This 120 minute endless chase, from the top of the movie to the ending, merely produces a caffeine buzz and sets your nerves on edge. Yes, Greengrass can use this production in his own personal highlight reel to showcase his moving camera skills. But his writing skills? Not so much.

Tommy Lee Jones delivers possibly the most superficial performance of his excellent career and the money he was offered cannot begin to make up for the indignity of the closeups.

Newcomer Alicia Vikander acquits herself well. Then again, she is a newbie with a whole string of good movies ahead of her, career-wise, whereas the actors in this film seemed more interested in taking the money ... and running.

---------------ADDENDUM NOV 2017-------------

If you are curious to see the kind of film that JASON BOURNE (2016) should have been in a perfect world -- or a parallel universe, or whatever -- than have a quick peek at ATOMIC BLONDE 2017. Presumably when you read this review in the far future, you can snag it on streaming media or DVD or possibly even beamed directly into your cortex. Theron, for the first 2/3 of the film, is the Bourne of old. She is an agent with a mission and a purpose and a predisposition for removing obstacles from her path with the same ease a gardener pulls weeds from a flower bed. And the script is intelligent and purposeful. Yes, she has more estrogen than the Bourne we are used to (well, a LOT more, actually) but, other than that tiny discrepancy, ATOMIC BLONDE is more a Bourne sequel than this soppy entry.

---- ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Lacklustre story line lacking intelligence, dialogue, and character development.

I am a big fan of the franchise and my expectations may have been too high for this sequel. Was hoping for same kind of substance and kept waiting for something impressively unexpected, like previous. Legacy was a better film. Even fight scenes and car chases from all previous had a different "feel" than typical action films, but formula made these redundant and confusing, not fun like others. The predictable plot had me thinking, hoping for intelligent twist that did not happen. It's a good rental I suppose.