The
series’ fifth installment explodes on the screen as Matt Damon returns to the
role he originated way back in 2002. The
Bourne in this film is a bulked up, bare knuckle street brawler, earning money
to support a humble off the grid existence. While never chatty and light, this Bourne incarnation is – if possible –
even more grim and purposeful than before. (Supposedly Damon has only 25 lines of
dialogue in the entire film!) His old
CIA ally, Nicky Parsons (played by the wonderful Julia Stiles) tracks him down,
offering freshly hacked information that will finally put the missing pieces in
Bourne’s identity puzzle. When he learns that his own father was deeply
involved then sacrificed, this chase becomes personal. Let’s just say you don’t want to get in
Bourne’s way when it’s personal…
As
important as Damon’s return to the franchise is, his reteaming with director
Paul Greengrass is truly cause for celebration. Greengrass is undoubtedly one
of the most gifted action filmmakers working today. Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd’s constantly
moving cameras keep the action going at a frenetic pace that never lets up. An early sequence set in the middle of a
Greek anti-austerity riot is literally breathtaking as is the film’s ferocious Las
Vegas climax. Jason Bourne features the best Vegas car chase
since Diamonds Are Forever – except without the occasional one-liner to lighten
things up. It is just a high-speed
demolition derby that tears up the Strip.
Delicately
beautiful Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander plays an ice-cool CIA tech officer
trying to reel Bourne in to serve her own hidden agenda. Veteran actor Tommy Lee Jones is her CIA
Director boss. Jones’ craggy face is almost
a separate character in the film – when the camera lingers on it, the miles and
battle scars show. Shadowing Bourne
throughout is a brutally efficient CIA killer known only as “the Assetâ€, convincingly
played by Vincent Cassel. Out of all the
spooks Bourne has dispatched over the years, Cassel might actually cross him
off the Company’s hit list.
The
filmmakers cleverly wrap their story in the headline issues of today – web
surveillance, civil unrest, and big government paranoia, making the entire plot
totally and sadly believable. (There’s even a nod to Edward Snowden early on.) Damon
was a svelte 32 when he first took on Bourne. Now 45, his Bourne is starting to age and you can see the toll his years
on the lam have taken on his face and his soul – more proof, if needed, of what
a spectacular actor Matt Damon really is.