Jason Bourne

Other than the "Jurassic Park" franchise, another one of my favorite franchises has got to be the "Bourne" one, all being ushered in with "The Bourne Identity" '02. Typically I'm not fond of franchise films mostly due to their big commercial appeal which usually means big bucks, but when I saw my first trailer on "Jason Bourne", I simply couldn't resist. They are slickly made with amazing stunts, photography and editing to keep one riveted in their seat.

Years after the events of The Bourne Ultimatum, former CIA assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) resurfaces just as his former employees, namely CIA Director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones) and agent Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander), are implementing a new program aimed at hunting him down. Now fully recovered from his amnesia, Bourne teams up with Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) to uncover the truth behind his father's death, while simultaneously exacting revenge and evading the government forces, namely Asset (Vincent Cassel) who are hot on his trail.

Others to round out the cast are Riz Ahmed as Aaron Kalloor, Ato Essandoh as Craig Jeffers, assistant/guard to Dewey, Scott Shepherd as Director NI Edwin Russell, Bill Camp as Malcolm Smith, Vinzenz Kiefer as Christian Dassault and Stephen Kunken as Baumen.

This was directed with pain-staking realism by Paul Greengrass ("Resurrected" '89, "Open Fire" (TV movie) '97, "Bloody Sunday" '02, "The Bourne Supremacy" '04, "United 93" '06, "The Bourne Ultimatum" '07, "Green Zone" '10, "Captain Phillips" '13) plus TV. The reason this  filmmaker has got to be one of my favorite directors is the fact that he utilizes every real aspect of any given scene and draws upon it with explicit clarity. An example of this is in the film "United 93". This film was so realistic that you felt you were experiencing that awful fateful day of 9/11 all over again. None of the actors were familiar ones purposely chosen by Greengrass, to ensure its intense realism. This film definitely had that same feel to it. It was excitably written by Greengrass and Christopher Rouse based on characters created by Robert Ludlum. This plot could've easily been convoluted in its writing, but these writers, specifically Greengrass were able to create a script with continuity, that was tight, cohesive and followed through to the end. Certainly Greengrass has considerable writing experience, and even though this is Rouse's first film screenplay (he's edited many Greengrass films including this one), he certainly has potential. I would be interested to see a script by him sometime down the road. And, of course, the stunts, photography and editing all delineated and coordinated with such clarity is amazing and is Greengrass' trademark.

This film is the reason we come to the multiplex in the summer season. It's a film that has it all: high adrenaline, explosiveness, great stunts, all the while being well written and directed with actors we all love. How many summer films have all these aspects that we can sink our teeth into. I'd say...0! Break out the popcorn.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                 Rated: PG-13                               123mins.