Review of Jason Bourne (2016) by Tim W — 07 Aug 2018

Well, we've had the Identity, the Supremacy, the Ultimatum, the Legacy, and now we have the Contractual Obligation. At least, that's what it feels like. Watching it, you get that sense of the writers knowing the end and then shoehorning in every contrivance to make the plot get there. This is mainly achieved by the overt use of technological gimmicks that lay everything out on a plate for Bourne to succeed in his 'mission', all helped by yet another rogue CIA agent who hacks into databases like she's ordering books off Amazon. Is there a more overused character than the young uber hacker? I say mission, but there isn't really one to speak of. Or, as my least, not one that keeps you hooked. The 'Asset, as Bourne's target is called, is wafer-thin in terms of character. At no point in a of the chase do you think Bourne will fail. Instead, you are amazed at how easy it all is and at how hopeless his pursuers are. The principal action scenes are overblown and over budget. In the Supremacy, tje car chase with Karl Urban was superb. In this, it's ludicrous and OTT.

None of this is helped by the acting. Damon is his usual decent self and Riz Ahmed is an underused talent, but they are let down by everyone else. Tommy Lee Jones phoning his lines in and Alicia Vikander woefully miscast and floundering as the CIA agent tasked with most of the heavy lifting. Everyone else just shouts and grunts. When did the Free World get this bad mannered and stupid?

The Bourne seriess reinvented the genre, but it's failed to reinvent itself. The quality has declined as the series has gone on. It forged Damon's career and he does better stuff now. Moby has certainly.

Benefitted.Time to knock it on the head. Don't come in, Jason. Stay out there and out of sight.