Jason Bourne (2016)
Director: Paul Greengrass
Writers: Paul Greengrass, Christopher Rouse
Characters: Robert Ludlum
Cast: Matt Damon (Jason Bourne), Tommy Lee Jones (CIA Director Robert Dewey), Alicia Vikander (Heather Lee), Vincent Cassel (Asset), Julia Stiles (Nicky Parsons), Riz Ahmed (Aaron Kallor), Ato Essandoh (Craig Jeffers), Scott Shepard (Director NI Edwin Russell), Bill Camp (Malcolm Smith), Vinzenz Kiefer (Christian Dassault), and Stephen Kunken (Baumen.
Opening Credits:
Spy films continue to speed there way into the hearts of audiences all around. Super fast action, a conspiracy like story leaving you glued to your seat. Remember the film should have CIA. or FBI in them in order to be a real spy flick. Jason Bourne is just that, enough CIA conspiracy mixed in with some action that will blow your mind. either way spy films do well no matter what it is, look at the numbers and tell me i'm wrong. The Bourne films are just fun and enduring enough to make you smile at the end of the third Act.
Review:
A flurry of scenes, one of those is David Webb (Matt Damon) in the training program called Treadstone. The beginning process of becoming an assassin. Jason Bourne was finally brought in into the world. The next flurry of scenes are Jason Bourne exposing project Blackbriar, a secret ops project that was hidden, but exposed by Bourne himself. The CIA Director was arrested, Ezra Kramer (Scott Glenn).
The scene fades and opens in a large crowd in Greece. A large man takes off his shirt in the center of the loud crowd. He exposes many tattoos, waiting for his opponent. The other man is Jason Bourne, hidden, away for 8 years. He approaches, fixes the cloth on both of his hands, used to contain some of the blow from the hits, keeping the blood from spewing, making things look professional, even out here in the heat. The crowd gets louder, as both men slowly move towards each other. One posed, fixed on the position, stance, any openings. The other shouting, grunting, showing his brute strength, as he continues to Bourne. They both approach, each watching the other. Suddenly Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) upper cuts the brute, the punch takes out his opponent. The massive man falls, his body hits the ground, sending a clear message, silencing the crowd.
"I volunteered because i thought our enemies killed my father. I volunteered because of a lie!" -Jason Bourne-
The film Jason Bourne starts out in your face fashion, not holding back. Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) hacks the CIA, downloading top secret files. 10 black ops projects. 1) Iron Hand, 2) Spectrum, 3) Hourglass, 4) Rubicon, 5) Spearfish, 6) Larx, 7) Outcome, 8) Emerald lane, 9) Blackbriar, 10) Treadstone.
She is in this place where other hackers are present. Kinda like a party with pretty shady people, you really don't know what the hell is going on until it's to late. The sirens, the lights go out, all bad stuff. Anyway she continues to hack the CIA, and somehow the Cyber division catches on, the head administrator, Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander) catches Parsons in the act. shuts down the lights, everything goes from good to bad, all chaos ensues. I really like the speed of the film, everything comes and goes pretty fast. Even the way the characters get rid of the evidence. Parsons destroys everything, but she has her trusty little flash drive that copies the files, and takes off. I love Julia Stiles, her character in the Bourne movies has always been that double, hidden agent working both sides of the spectrum. She is a well rounded character that really should've never been killed. I would accept her being badly hurt, injured, but killed, nah, that would've been to far fetched to me. The gal is to smart for her own good. She managed to make it this far along, why kill her off. Just saying.
"I'm sorry for what happened to you, how you were treated. But the people who did that are gone and things are changing at the agency." -Heather Lee-
The action sequences were done well. I'm not a huge fan of the fast paced, quick shot action. You know, the one in those Taken films where there so bad it's very difficult to distinguish what's going on. In Jason Bourne, and in all the films that never happens. The Director Paul Greengrass filmed the shots so even if the action was fast paced, you still would be able to see the characters faces, and the whole action sequence. If Jason would fire his gun killing an agent, you would see the whole thing, clear as day. While in the Taken films, the action was so fast, it was like they had edited, fast forward the whole scene, which to me gave me a headache. In Jason Bourne the film was shot the right way, no bad weird shots. I'm up for creative ideas, making things better, especially making a scene epic, or the action so good that as part of the audience you want more. The cinematography is strong, stunts are awesome, and the car chases even better. The films pacing paralleled the story, and it worked. Other films when they try pacing, with tons of action using the shaky camera to the point of a bad headache, not only will the film suffer, but it now becomes a B-movie. the main reason i could not watch Taken 3. Jason Bourne had a balance that i wish The Bourne Legacy had, yes i said it. I absolutely did not like The Bourne legacy, but it's a different movie. I wish it had the same pacing as the other Bourne movies. Legacy did not make the charts, in fact it fell off. The casting was really good, but other than that the high level action mixed in with story, pacing, wasn't there at all.
"We don't have a choice, Jason. It started again, a new program, Iron Hand. It's even worse than before." -Nicky Parsons-
"What's that got to do with me?" -Jason Bourne-
"Because it matters. It Matters." -Nicky Parsons-
Hollywood needs to start doing something different, because to me the Treadstone story line ended in 2007. The Robert Ludlum books that the film was based on. The main problem here is the bigwigs try and come back for another picture deal. The story isn't over, but yet it manages to make some money, and it kills the integrity of the other films. Don't get me wrong, the film was good, but what price did it have to pay? Why make a film if you know it's a long shot. After all the film took nine years to come out. The development process was that bad that they waited nine years. Granted Matt Damon was busy, but why? nine years. He could've given the guys some detailed information. But the only thing he said was, "Paul Greengrass." Matt Damon wouldn't work with anyone except Greengrass on the project. That conspiracy alone is part of Treadstone. Between 2007, and 2016 the Director only had two projects. Captain Phillips (2013), and The Green Zone (2010). Both Damon and Greengrass came out in 2014 to tell the world that they would come back for another installment of the iconic Jason Bourne. Really makes no sense, it was nothing more than pure laziness. If you believe in a franchise, then do it, continue while it's hot, don't wait nine years.
Jason Bourne (2016) 120,000,000 budget, 59,215,365 opening weekend, 162,162,120 gross. Bourne Legacy (2012) (Aaron Cross) 125,000,000 budget, 38, 142,825 opening weekend, 275,965,635 gross.
Bourne Ultimatum (2007) budget 110,000,000, opening weekend 69,283,690, 442,225,045 gross. An example of stupidity. Why wait nine years to make a film. Legacy did better gross wise then Jason Bourne, but Bourne (2016) was a better movie overall. My guess is that Hollywood again decides to make changes, call shots that mean nothing but numbers. In the end the audience is what makes your movie shine, not the bigwigs. Don't believe me, just look at Box office Mojo or IMBD for the gross of the films. Another example is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) film. Yes it was the return of the man himself, Harrison Ford playing his character of characters, Indiana Jones. He returns making a big splash, and it did. 185,000,000 budget, a horrible opening weekend at around 13,000,000, but a world wide gross of 783,011,114. In this case over time the gross skyrocketed, but the average review was low. Making this film another Batman VS Superman. The point here is movies are very unpredictable, and when you see a film, it's all up to the audience, period, not the bigwigs. My thoughts are simple, don't wait to long to make a film, just do it and suffer the consequences, or reap the rewards.
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