Jason Bourne

The Bourne movies had a key role in changing the way spy movies were treated till that point. Well after his entry even James Bond started to jump from buildings and get dirty. The latest episode in the Bourne saga is titled Jason Bourne and much like its previous segments it is engaging, breath taking and a bit typical. With fast paced edits and long and intriguing chase sequences, Jason Bourne is one of those movies were you won’t take your eyes from the screen.

After what all we have seen in the other three movies, Bourne is still in search of his identity and he regularly gets this flashes of past. This time around the focus is on his father after his friend Nicky Parsons retrieves some vital information about his past from the CIA servers. Bourne decides to find out the truth behind it and the film shows us that exciting journey of his filled with fights, chases and mind games.

Like Matt Damon mentioned in a recent interview, as the movies these days have severely adapted the style Bourne movies created, presenting it in a fresh way was somewhat a challenging task. I won’t say they cracked a solution completely, but this idea of following encounters with fast pace for a long time was a nice technique to add some sort of freshness to the movie. Jason Bourne movie isn’t entirely concerned about the secrecy of its climax. From whatever we have seen in this franchise it is quite easy to guess who the baddy is. But how the movie becomes a convincing one is by adding intrigue to its credit.

Matt Damon is comfortable under the skin of this prestigious character of his career. Tommy Lee Jones as the CIA chief Robert Dewey also performs with grace. I liked the way Alicia Vikander played the role of the cyber specialist Heather Lee and her voice modulation gives that sophisticated feel we would expect from someone in that position. Vincent Cassel as the revenge seeking Asset also performs nicely.

Director Paul Greengrass who actually gave that identity to the Bourne movies returns to the director’s chair and this time he has shared the writing credit along with editor Christopher Rouse. The story this time is somewhat a repetition of what we have been seeing in the series. There is a new operation this time and it is called Iron Hand. Greengrass tries to add the modern world’s prominent social media culture in to the script and takes a dig at the man who runs the biggest social media platform. Where the movie actually scores is in its construction of set pieces and chases. From that initial chase sequence in Greece to the final massive car chase in the streets of Las Vegas(man! I need that police vehicle) this Bourne movie has got the grandest and lengthiest absorbing set pieces. Greengrass follows the signature shaky camera style and with Rouse’s sharp cuts, the engaging factor increases. One major question in my mind was on the necessity of making this movie in 3D format. Stunts were great as usual.

Jason Bourne has the positives of being a gripping movie. The other movies in the franchise directed by Greengrass are still the best. But this one is much better than the last Jeremy Runner starrer Bourne Legacy.

Rating : 3/5