Cast: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alice Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Julia Stiles, Riz Ahmed, Gregg Henry
Director: Paul Greengrass
Genre: Action
Duration: 123 minutes
Showing: Cinema Magic, Metroplex Mall Naalya, Century Cinemax Acacia Mall.
Jason Bourne –now this is a fella we did not think we would see again. Not with Matt Damon playing again at least. In Damon’s defence though, although he is on record for saying Bourne’s story was complete, he did say he was open to returning, given a good script, and with Paul Greengrass directing. So if you are among the Bourne fans who are not happy that he is back, give it a chance. And for the non-Bourne fans whose only interaction with the franchise might have been 2012 The Bourne Legacy, which did not feature Jason Bourne, this instalment should make you seek out the first three movies.
Jason Bourne is set after The Bourne Ultimatum, where the last we saw of Bourne was him swimming away in the river. He is living in Greece now, and from the look of things, he still attracts trouble. But not anything he cannot punch his way out of. Things get interesting when Nicky Parsons (Stiles) comes back into his life. Parsons believes there is something fishy happening within the CIA. She goes as far as hacking CIA computers. This gets CIA director, Robert Dewey (Jones) on hers and Bourne’s back. Dewey gets Heather Lee (Vikander) on the case, given her computer knowledge. Besides Agent Lee, Bourne is also being pursued by some guy (Cassell) connected to Ironhand, the programme which was created to bring down Bourne. In all this mix, Bourne also learns about what happened to his father (Henry). The plot is therefore a mix of things that are interesting.
Greengrass uses the same style from the first three movies. Very little to no computerised special effects, that shaky camera thing that makes you feel like you are moving with the character, and action that is not just guns and car chases. This does not mean that the movie does not offer anything new except the plot. It does. Most prominently is the fact that it tackles issues we can relate to. Things like online privacy and whether it actually exists. Not surprisingly, Bourne is not into all this Internet business. All he wants is to find the actual person behind it and deal with them.
Jason Bourne is definitely a good trip to the cinema. But do not be surprised if you feel like it could have been better. That is how I felt.