The latest sequel appropriately modernizes the franchise without taking away its action-packed soul or the running theme of questioning America’s surveillance state. The film updates the franchise to fit the modern digital world.Īlthough the original Bourne films are still exciting to watch, they haven’t exactly aged well since all of the technology featured feels dated in 2016. Fans definitely won’t walk away from this flick thinking, “What the heck happened again?”Ĥ. And even though the film is around two hours long, the pacing of the story doesn’t feel like it’s slogging along at any point. Thankfully, Jason Bourne doesn’t try to make the plot overly complicated, while still providing a ton of exciting and unexpected twists. If you’re struggling to remember what exactly happened in the original trilogy, you’re not alone. The plot isn’t as convoluted as previous sequels.
However, that movie just didn’t work (but more on that later).ģ. The only previous film that could match the star power of Jason Bourne would be The Bourne Legacy, which featured Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, and Oscar Isaac. Julia Stiles is also back as fan favorite Nicky Parsons. Recent Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander is amazing as the intelligent but mysterious cybersecurity agent, while Tommy Lee Jones is perfect as the devious CIA director.
The Bourne movies have always featured great actors, but the new sequel may have the best cast yet. Damon is surrounded by a superb supporting cast. That’s why the film’s final beatdown in the third act, which Damon has called “the mother of all Treadstone fights,” comes across as so brutal and visceral, instead of ridiculous and over the top.Ģ. However, this time around, the meticulously crafted fight scenes are sleeker and more grounded in real-world martial arts tactics. Like previous Bourne sequels, the latest installment doesn’t skimp on the action and, yes, there are plenty of moments where Damon’s character uses random objects to beat people up.