The first 5 minutes are sheer fan service and pleasent throwbacks to the previous films, the following 20 minutes are entertaining, dramatic and held my attention. Then the film went off the rails...
Sorry to say but I'm disappointed in Jason Bourne. On paper, a film that rejoins director of Supremacy and Ultimatum Paul Greengrass and star of the OT Matt Damon sounds like a recipe for a production that puts The Bourne films on the map, and for the first thirty minutes I was in a honeymoon as I saw something unfolding on screen that matched, if not outclassed, what I saw in the OT. Then the film decomposed the more I thought about it.
Like I said, the first 30minutes or so of the film won my heart. There was fan service, action and thrills, and smaller character moments which reminded me of why I fell in love with the franchise when I first watched Identityabout a week ago. I didn't care a lot for the action. The reason I felt they held up is the character aspect of the films. Aside the film asking the question of "who am I?" the smaller character moments were the heart and souls of the film.
In particular, an action sequence occurring early on in the film involving a motorbike and propelled by an insane collection of stunts, alluring cinematography and heartbreaks slated itself as one of my favourite franchise moments.
Then the thing went downhill. To sum it up: it's not bad, I didn't hate it. I just didn't love it. I like the film.
...
The first blip on the radar was the cinematography. Although well filmed with an array of pretty looking shots to speak for themselves, the overstatement of close ups and extreme close ups made the film feel claustrophobic. If a scene is intended to create an illusion of immersion the characters could walk and go anywhere, even though they can't, this film is composed of moments. Because the close-ups here cramped the film for me. Every night scene and scenes with dark lighting were beautiful (and would likely look beautiful in 4K) but anything set in broad daylight was barely passable.
To sideline this problem, the story was just passable. If this being more of the same is it's strength, as it sates the appetite of fans of the franchise that fell in love with this structure, it's also it's foremost weak point. The story in The Bourne Ultimatumwas intriguing and necessary, but at this point the franchise has become pretentious in it's storytelling. Ultimatum was a fitting send off for the character and I don't believe Jason Bourneshould've retreated the same ground of finding out who he his... again. Had they been more interested in exploring new territory, this could've been something special.
Think back to the quiet character moments I highlighted early on in this review. The first three films were populated with them. It's like they shafted that in this film. This is personified by the fact that Bourne's line count in this film accounts to 25. 25 lines. I'm fairly certain that's less opportunities for him to speak than Max in Fury Road (if you think I'm making this up, I'm not. I came across a statistic a while ago and, yes, Max has more dialogue then Bourne does in this film).
So, all of the defining moments such as the cell phone conversations, the discussion with Marie and all that you fell in love with in the first three films... abolished. For the first time, I felt a disconnect with the character. Who was the driving force of the first three films.
Instead of the characters advancing the plot, the plot advanced the characters. The movie seemingly is in love with itself, with little love for it's characters. Although Alicia Vikander did a great job in her role, an intelligent yet youthful woman, I cannot tell you her motivation if you asked me. Maybe it existed, if you caught it, do let me know in the comments below, but point in hand is that Jason Bournenever is interested in exploring it's characters as people. It is only interested in exploring them for the sake of advancing the plot. Major character moments are squandered because the film could not care less about these moments as meaningful proceedings for the characters. Only mechanisms for the plot to bring us to the next set piece.
Here is an example. Major spoilers:
Thank god Alicia Vikander's performance was so good that although her character was not very well explored, that I may just consider Heather one of my favourite female movie characters in years! No bullshit, no whining. Not even much fighting. No oscar bait attempts at empowering woman.
She was just awesome at being a female! She owned it.
That said, I ate up some of the revelations of Bourne's background. I won't spoil them here, but really intriguing stuff. Not essential, but I like to think things make more sense now. That and the final action sequence in the film had me on the edge of my seat. Very personal. Now only if Bourne talked more.
...
To round things off, I enjoyed Jason Bourne.Perhaps if I was judging this film off of normal standards, I would be pleased. But these aren't normal standards. And the Bourne films are some of the greatest of their genre. In that regard, Jason Bourne satisfied me with some of it's callbacks, especially musically! And Jason Bourne kicking ass is always awesome to see! In particular, a sequence involving a motorbike!
But really, there was a LOT this film let me down in. The quieter character moments in the first films are marginalised here. Hell, I do not recall a lot of badass moments in this film. Remember that awesome "she's standing right next to you" in Supremacy? Or the even more badass "if you were in your office, we'd be having this conversation face to face" from Ultimatum? Absent in this film.
The story is just passable, which is a shame considering the story is why I, and many others, fell in love with the OT. Instead, the film plays like a set piece which struggled to grab the same attention the first three films did (bear in mind cinema experiences are supposed to be more compelling) with rehashed and familiar plot points, and an unnecessary plot or two which disoriented me as much as the shaky cam.
Signing out.
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