JASON BOURNE REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Being an 18 year old female, I was too young to acknowledge the Bourne hype when the first film, The Bourne Identity, was released in 2002 and I've only just watched the three Bourne films that Matt Damon features in. To be honest, I wasn't expecting them to be as good as they are. Identity told the story of a former assassin who has amnesia and is desperate to find out who he really is by focusing on the main character himself. Most action films don't bother to explain who the protagonist is which is why it's hard for us to root for them. However, director Doug Liman knew how important it was for us to connect with Bourne as a character and because of Damon's acting, it was successful. The sequel, The Bourne Supremacy, was released two years later and continued Bourne's story and we learnt more about his background. This proved to be as thrilling as the first one and the third film, The Bourne Ultimatum, was released in 2007. After watching all three films, which were all good in their own way, I had high hopes for Jason Bourne, the latest installment. Fortunately, it didn't disappoint.

I can understand why many people are sceptical of this latest release. There have been a lot of sequels lately and only a few of them were as good as their predecessors. This is the fifth film in the Bourne franchise but the fourth one for Damon. Paul Greengrass, who directed Supremacy and Ultimatum, returns to direct. It was because these two worked well together that Supremacy and Ultimatum were successful sequels. Greengrass knew how to generate tension and choreograph action sequences and car chases and Damon brought a strong performance as Bourne.

Fans of the previous Bourne installments will enjoy this latest outing. It has everything that a Bourne film is known for: character depth; tense scenes between characters; car chases and fight sequences. Damon and Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons are the only two actors to return from the previous films. The majority of the characters are all new: Tommy Lee Jones is the CIA director, Robert Dewey; Alicia Vikander is Heather Lee, second in command at CIA and Vincent Cassel is the Asset.

This film has similarities to the previous films, however, because of the differences, it doesn't feel like we're watching a repeat. In this film, we learn something new about Bourne and he is determined to find out what really happened.

I think it's safe to say Bourne has been through a lot throughout the films. This film is no different. In my opinion, the fight sequences in this film are even more brutal. For the first time, we see Bourne fight topless, which many people will be happy about but the fight sequence that stood out to me was the one between Bourne and the Asset. For the first time, I actually thought Bourne might actually die. Fortunately, he doesn't.

Before watching this, I read some reviews and most of them talked about the car chase sequence set in Vegas. This is, by far, one of the best moments of the film as it's fast paced and exhilarating. Even if you're not a Bourne fan but enjoy action films, I'd definitely recommend this film for this sequence alone.

The performances are all strong. Damon, as expected, provides a deep and dark performance as Bourne. He's not shy about pulling the trigger or threatening people, however, because of the previous films, we've connected with him as a character and, throughout the film, we're still rooting for him. Lee Jones take on the role as the CIA director and we mainly see him as the antagonist wanting to get Bourne. Vikander, who has recently appeared in critically-acclaimed and Oscar nominated films such as Ex-Machina and The Danish Girl, gives another strong performance as Heather. In the beginning, we see her side with Dewey but we see another side to her. Stiles, despite only being in the film for about 15 minutes, shows another side to Parsons than we've seen in the previous films and she tries to help Bourne. 

Could there be another Bourne film? Only time will tell but if this is the last film in the Bourne franchise, I won't be disappointed. Jason Bourne doesn't end on a cliffhanger and, in a way, concludes the franchise. However, that's not to say I won't be excited for a new Bourne film.

Overall, Jason Bourne is another thrilling sequel that is just as good as its predecessors.

7/10