Jason Bourne
Director: Paul Greengrass
Stars: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Julia Stiles, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel
Four stars
Nine years after his last adventure, Matt Damon’s memory-addled CIA assassin Jason Bourne returns – still deadly, still muddled, still living in the shadows.
The opening scene, a bare-knuckle brawl, sets the raw tone as Damon shows – at 45 – he can still cut it physically as an action hero, based on the character created by author Robert Ludlum. It's a bruising scrap, hinting that Bourne has been living off the grid since 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum.
The plot kicks in when Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), Bourne’s former contact and ally, hacks into the CIA’s mainframe from a remote terminal in Icelandand and discovers classified information about Bourne’s background. She tracks him down to Greece and, using anti-government riots in Athens as cover – in a fabulously staged scene – she brings him back above ground in a post-Snowden world of super-hackers and global surveillance. Needless to say, the CIA – led by Tommy Lee Jones – wants Bourne brought back into the programme or killed. Alicia Vikander’s ambitious but slippery agent Heather Lee volunteers to lead their operation, though doing the dirty work is Vincent Cassel’s assassin – known simply as Asset – who has his own axe to grind with Bourne.
In a role originally mooted for Viggo Mortensen, Cassel is fantastic – relentless and cold-blooded. The other "asset" in this film is, of course, Paul Greengrass, who directed Damon in Ultimatum and its predecessor, The Bourne Supremacy. He and his star innately understand what makes this franchise tick – a blend of real-world politics and bone-crunching action – and in those respects, Jason Bourne does not disappoint. Car-chases, shoot-outs, punch-ups – those intent on mainlining Hollywood-certified adrenaline need look no further.
After the less-than-stellar 2012 spin-off The Bourne Legacy – which did not feature Damon, instead starring Jeremy Renner as another operative, Aaron Cross – this feels like a return to form. Bourne even revisits earlier pit stops in Berlin and London, as if to remind the hardcore fans that they are back in familiar territory.
While there are good performances – notably from Vikander (Ex Machina, The Danish Girl), who grows into her role – this instalment doesn't add a great deal to the franchise, perhaps, other than sketching out a little more of Bourne's family history. You have to wonder how much further Damon and Co can take this before diluting what has been a supremely entertaining series. Still, as it stands, Jason Bourne is a superior summer blockbuster – bursting with brawn and brains.
• Jason Bourne is in cinemas now
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