The Best Bourne Yet

This article originally appeared on CinemaRetro

By Mark Cerulli

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 Asset”, 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.

Watch the trailer