By Liz Lopez
Rating: A –
It has been over two months since the summer films have been rolled out, and the one I have been highly anticipating is Jason Bourne, especially with Matt Damon back as Bourne in the franchise that started with the Doug Liman directed The Bourne Identity (2002), followed by The Bourne Supremacy (2004, Paul Greengrass) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007, Greengrass). There is a spinoff (The Bourne Legacy – 2012) that was fine, but without Bourne himself, it was another story. Damon does not disappoint in his fourth of the sequel that allows fans to view him trying to reconnect with his past as David Webb, and about his father, Richard (Gregg Henry), who had worked for the federal government before losing his life abroad.
There are scenes of loss in the past and some current that make him even more determined to face and engage with the ones who created him to be lethal. This is a conspiracy thriller that keeps you engaged throughout – don’t turn away for a second as you might miss how sleek he is at moving through cities, countries, convention halls and more. If you think you missed something at first viewing, this is one film that you can bet you will want to see again.
Jason Bourne is directed by Greengrass, which he wrote with longtime editor Christopher Rouse, based on characters created by Robert Ludlum. At the beginning of the film, we see Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) looking into to encrypted files about the past when Webb became Bourne, as well as another project underway that the Feds (CIA) surely doesn’t want to be exposed. She finds a way to connect with Bourne, despite his off the grid status participating in underground fights in the desert of a foreign country. With today’s technology, CIA agent, Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander), is on to Parsons immediately and tracking her every move in efforts to catch Bourne and stop her activities at any cost through the help of an “Asset” (Vincent Cassel), brought in by agency director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones).
Lee (Vikander) performs her duties in a very emotionless, cold manner, ready to take on duties to lure Bourne in. Dewey delegates the high-tech duties to her, and she hacks the Reykjavik power grid. Not long after Bourne has viewed some files about his past, she eliminates them from the laptop by a nearby cell phone. In the film, there is plenty of use of satellite surveillance and facial-recognition software that makes one aware of how people can be tracked anytime, anywhere.
The action from Iceland leads to Greece, Berlin, London to the United States, ending in Las Vegas with the Exocon convention where Aaron Kalloor (Riz Ahmed, Nightcrawler) is prepared to give a speech about his high-tech project. The action kicks back up into full gear when the shooting starts, everyone is running and a ruthless “Asset” violently tears up anything and anyone that crosses his path in Las Vegas.
Even though the action may leave the viewer’s eyes or head spinning, at the end when Bourne is done, there is no doubt fans will want more, and perhaps, there may be a return to find out what Lee is up to next.
The film is rated PG-13 (no nudity, no sex scenes, yeah) and has a running time of 2 hours, 3 minutes.
Source: Universal Pictures