The fifth installment in the Jason Bourne franchise has arrived, and it delivers certain things that we by now expect to see happen in a Jason Bourne movie. The action sequences are suitably impressive, the car chase scene at the end is exhilarating, and when sitting in the cinema, the film was very watchable, as all the Jason Bourne films have been. So why is it, as I sit here and type this review, I find myself thinking that the franchise has become all too formulaic?
As was the case with The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, we rejoin a Bourne who has gone into hiding. He’s laying low, attempting to live his life but he’s plagued by memories of his past. As with the two films mentioned, events occuring elsewhere drag him back into the world of black ops, as misunderstandings lead the forces at the CIA to (yet again) believe he is a one-man band out to ruin them.
I’m being a little harsh. Bourne learns a little more about who he really is, and why he ended up in the Treadstone programme. I won’t go into too much detail, but sufffice to say, it seems his life was never his own.
The initial sequence in Athens is set amidst a backdrop of rioting and turmoil, and demonstrates Bourne’s survival skills and ability to improvise. This is repeated in London, which features a rather ruthless Bourne at one stage, and sets up for a big finale in Las Vegas, but once again, whilst each element of the film is put together really well and is visually stunning, it follows the same set pattern of the previous Bourne films, and nothing is resolved by the end (well, not really). Bourne is still seen as a threat, and still officially being hunted.
All in all, it’s enjoyable and I don’t regret paying money to see it, but I would hope for something a little different next time. 7.5/10.
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