‘Jason Bourne’ is an uneven action packed thrill ride – REVIEW
Matt Damon returns as the badass amnesiac, Jason Bourne, hoping to delight fans of the franchise
Bourne returns to the big screen and this time with a deviation from the novel. The story still follows, however, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) as he continues to search for his identity. This time, he tackles the big internet corporations who are out to get him. Paul Greengrass returns to direct and brings his love or hate shaky-cam style.
There’s no question that Matt Damon continues to be the best thing in this series. His performance is picked up right where he left off in the Bourne Ultimatum. The whole movie follows his lead depending on Damon to shine in every scene. Gladly, he does nail everything in this movie, however, when Damon isn’t present the movie loses its track.
With the world getting more into social media and the internet, there’s no surprise that Jason Bourne dives into an internet subplot involving a lot of hacking and fraud.However, it stalls the story and takes away from the main story. As the subplot and the main plot progresses, it feels kind of like two different movie with the subplot being a very bad film.
What you come to expect from the Bourne movies is all present in this latest installment and while it’s fun nostalgia, it can be a bit repetitive. It feels more predictable if you are a fan of the franchise and that’s not a good sell to your fans. The appeal of the Bourne franchise is the incredible thrilling action and the unpredictable twists. At least Jason Bourne got one of those correct because the shaky-cam action still has a charm to it. It’s still perfectly captured and one of the best action on the big screen. It’s all what the creators want, some thrilling, heart-pounding action.
While the action is perfectly captured, some other camera shots are too heavily relied on. Almost every character moment was captured using close-ups. With the camera always zooming on people’s faces, it served as an awkward distraction. There’s a lot zooming in and out in this movie which makes it look really lazily shot. On the other hand, when there’s action, the shots become quick yet still capturing every punch and kick.
Towards the end, Jason Bourne picks up momentum. It knows exactly what its audience wants and it delivers. They narrow the focus to Bourne himself and on his magnificient backstory. It’s what they should have done in the begining, but didn’t. Luckily, it isn’t too late to regain itself, thanks to the help of Matt Damon.
In the end, Jason Bourne’s up and down state is saved by Matt Damon’s inspired performance and the incredible heart-pounding action.
Review Source: ZacharyDoiron.com
