Jason Bourne

The weakest of the Matt Damon/Paul Greengrass Bourne movies (but an improvement over The Bourne Legacy), Jason Bourne follows Damon’s title character as he’s drawn out of hiding by Julia Stiles’ Nicky Parsons and eventually sent on a pursuit that leads him directly to the head of the CIA (Tommy Lee Jones’ Robert Dewey). It’s clear that Jason Bourne benefits substantially from a propulsive first half that boasts several compelling action sequences, while director Greengrass, working from a screenplay cowritten with Christopher Rouse, does a good job of reintroducing Damon’s grizzled character and his now solitary, hardscrabble existence – with the rather engrossing atmosphere initially compensating for Greengrass’ regrettable penchant for shaky camerawork. There’s little doubt, however, that Jason Bourne‘s engaging vibe begins to dwindle steadily in its midsection, as the narrative is increasingly bogged down in padded-out sequences and needless, time-wasting subplots – with the most obvious example of the latter everything involving Riz Ahmed’s tech CEO Aaron Kalloor (ie virtually every scene dealing with this character could have been airlifted out of the picture without doing much damage). It’s consequently not surprising to note that the third act seriously drags and isn’t nearly as exciting as Greengrass has intended, with the larger-than-life (and far-too-long) Las Vegas car chase that closes the proceedings ensuring that Jason Bourne ends on a decidedly anticlimactic note – which is a shame, really, given the massive potential afforded by the film’s striking opening stretch.

**1/2 out of ****