Matt Damon Tommy Lee Jones Alicia Vikander Vincent Cassel Riz Ahmed Julia Stiles
Matt Damon is back again as the unstoppable,
hunted and haunted Jason Bourne.
In this journey, he is still off the grid, earning a living in physical
fights. Tommy Lee Jones is the
current Director of the CIA playing his usual double-dealings with his
agents. New on the scene is Agent
Heather Lee (Vikander) as a computer whiz who can spot and track targets and
assets all over the world. The
terrifying, ruthless CIA asset is played by Vincent Cassel who carries a grudge
toward Bourne from way back and pursues him relentlessly, impervious to the
scores of bodies he leaves behind as collateral damage.
In addition to searching for Bourne, the CIA
has proposed a secret surveillance program (Iron Hand) that it desperately
wants Aaron Kalloor’s technology company to agree to. The proposal is highly relevant today in light of the U.S.
Government’s recent efforts to get Apple to allow it to look at terrorists’
e-mails and search for anti-government hackers who have invaded the government
and U.S. companies’ websites. The CIA wants Kalloor’s social media platform,
Deep Dream, to allow it to search its posts, but Kalloor is having the same
response as Apple, saying that privacy is freedom and we need to protect that.
Bourne learns about this from Nicky Parsons
(Stiles), in addition to her finding out more about his history and about his
father. She and others have pulled
an Edward Snowden maneuver and gained access to the CIA’s data set about black
ops. She wants him to help them bring the CIA’s operations to light. When the Director of the CIA learns of
this, he goes after Bourne and Parsons with a vengeance, sure that they intend
to expose his department. He then
sends out the asset to kill them by whatever means necessary, and when that is
not entirely successful, his plan gets hopelessly convoluted.
Damon puts his all into this role as in all the
previous Bourne films, and pulls off superhuman feats in planning ahead and
evading the pursuers with clever strategies and all kinds of vehicles; he’s
always one step ahead, startling his adversaries with his acumen. I must say, though, that I much prefer
seeing him as the quirky botanist in The
Martian. Jones can play a mean, double-crossing s.o.b. easily, giving the
appearance of an all-knowing father.
There is probably no better actor to play the calculating, vindictive
killer than Cassel.
It’s refreshing to see Alicia Vikander again
take on a completely different role from those she has excelled in previously,
and here she comes across as extremely intelligent and accomplished, but with
feminine intuitions that serve her well.
She has read Bourne’s file and thinks she has such a keen sense about
his psychology that she can “bring him in” again.
Riz Ahmed is an up and coming actor to watch;
he is winning high marks for his roles in Nightcrawler and the current
television drama, “The Night of.”
Paul Greengrass directed this production of Bourne and helped write the screenplay
with Christopher Rouse. They have
succeeded in making the pace fast and furious, with nerve-wracking close calls
and scenes of high suspense. I
only wish the car chase and hand-to-hand combat at the end had been shortened
by half. The camera is so jumpy,
it’s hard to follow the action, and it ultimately becomes simply boring.
Another Jason Bourne thriller that hits
the same high points.
Grade: C By
Donna R. Copeland
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