This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
With its fifth installment, the bruising thriller "Jason Bourne," the spy franchise launched by Robert Ludlum's novel "The Bourne Identity" inches closer to James Bond territory — and that's not a good thing.
Director Paul Greengrass and his longtime editor, Christopher Rouse, co-wrote the screenplay here, and they largely stick to the formula that has worked before: a cat-and-mouse cyberchase bouncing through European capitals — Reykjavik, Athens, Rome, Berlin and London are on the itinerary this time — as CIA minders on screens trace the movements of our man Bourne (Matt Damon) by satellite link and surveillance cameras.
Bourne has regained his memories of his life before his CIA assassin's training, and he's determined to find out everything about the secret program, Treadstone, that turned him into a superkiller. Aided by Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), his former CIA minder who's now a rogue hacker, Bourne sees the files not only on Treadstone but a new black-ops program, Iron Hand.
The prospect that Iron Hand will be made public worries the current CIA director, Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones). Dewey assigns his top cyber-analyst, the whipsmart Heather Lee (nicely played by recent Oscar winner Alicia Vikander), to track down Bourne — while also pulling in a top assassin, identified only as The Asset (Vincent Cassel), to kill Bourne and anyone else in the way.
Greengrass, who directed "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum" (and, more recently, "Captain Phillips"), stages some crackerjack chase sequences — including a breakneck motorcycle ride through an Athens riot, a coolly staged rendezvous in London and a smashing finale on the Las Vegas Strip.
But there's a rote familiarity to the action sequences — the darting camerawork, the rapid-fire cuts, the blur of motion — that drains the story of its immediacy. The details of spycraft, particularly in the cyber centers of the CIA, feel rather dumbed down compared to the past movies, where audiences were thrown into the deep end and trusted to figure things out for themselves.
But "Jason Bourne" hasn't fully devolved into an Americanized version of 007, thanks largely to Damon's terse performance. I'd be surprised if Damon speaks more than 100 words in the entire movie, and that no-nonsense approach serves Bourne well on his grim mission to uncover the truth and expose the liars.
Twitter: @moviecricket —
HHH
'Jason Bourne'
Matt Damon makes a smart return, but the spy franchise loses some of its edge in this fifth installment.
Where • Theaters everywhere.
When • Opens Friday, July 29.
Rating • PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and brief strong language.
Running time • 123 minutes.