Having watched the four previous movies in preparation for this latest chapter in the Bourne franchise, I can say that this movie is good overall. I'm flirting with giving it 7/10 stars as I write this review. But I think that 6/10 probably describes it best.
Let's start with the good parts of this film. The movie stars Matt Damon, who makes a return to the franchise after 2013's "Bourne Legacy" starring Jeremy Renner. Renner didn't do a bad job at all in that film, but the fact is that this is Matt Damon's series. And, thankfully, the movie doesn't bring in very much of the back story from "Legacy" at all (which was a somewhat geeky movie for Bourne franchise die-hards), but instead is a return to the type of narrative seen in the first three films.
Tommy Lee Jones stars as the main antagonist in the film--the CIA director, who of course winds up being the lead villain. That should be no surprise if you've seen the previous movies in the series. Jones plays the part well and is arguably one of the more redeeming elements of the film.
The script is reasonably strong, and the story telling is good in this movie--and, to my liking, there's less of the shaky camera technique going on here than in 2007's "Bourne Ultimatum". However, the movie's two most prominent action scenes seem to drag on forever. That's another one of those things that seems to be standard for this franchise. It's fine, I guess, but in my opinion it really shouldn't take ten minutes worth of film to convey the conclusion of a chase scene.
The biggest problem I have with the movie, though, is that it just feels like at this point the series has become a repeat of the second movie over and over again ("Legacy" being the exception). Bourne is a problem, the CIA wants to kill him, there's corruption at the top of the CIA, there's a bunch of car chases, and in the end Bourne walks away (spoiler). That's all fine and good if you just want some simple escapism, but how many times can they make this same movie over and over again?
All that said, I give this one 6/10 stars. It's not a bad movie at all. But it's not fresh. I've seen it all before. And that makes it not as enjoyable as it would be otherwise.
Let's start with the good parts of this film. The movie stars Matt Damon, who makes a return to the franchise after 2013's "Bourne Legacy" starring Jeremy Renner. Renner didn't do a bad job at all in that film, but the fact is that this is Matt Damon's series. And, thankfully, the movie doesn't bring in very much of the back story from "Legacy" at all (which was a somewhat geeky movie for Bourne franchise die-hards), but instead is a return to the type of narrative seen in the first three films.
Tommy Lee Jones stars as the main antagonist in the film--the CIA director, who of course winds up being the lead villain. That should be no surprise if you've seen the previous movies in the series. Jones plays the part well and is arguably one of the more redeeming elements of the film.
The script is reasonably strong, and the story telling is good in this movie--and, to my liking, there's less of the shaky camera technique going on here than in 2007's "Bourne Ultimatum". However, the movie's two most prominent action scenes seem to drag on forever. That's another one of those things that seems to be standard for this franchise. It's fine, I guess, but in my opinion it really shouldn't take ten minutes worth of film to convey the conclusion of a chase scene.
The biggest problem I have with the movie, though, is that it just feels like at this point the series has become a repeat of the second movie over and over again ("Legacy" being the exception). Bourne is a problem, the CIA wants to kill him, there's corruption at the top of the CIA, there's a bunch of car chases, and in the end Bourne walks away (spoiler). That's all fine and good if you just want some simple escapism, but how many times can they make this same movie over and over again?
All that said, I give this one 6/10 stars. It's not a bad movie at all. But it's not fresh. I've seen it all before. And that makes it not as enjoyable as it would be otherwise.