Bourne is Back and in Riveting Form!

​Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum) and Matt Damon reunite again on the big screen after a nine-year hiatus. Jason Bourne delivers spy-tingling thrills in this post-Snowden era. 

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​Jason Bourne hits all of the highs that fans have come to expect from the franchise, which is this sequel’s biggest selling-point. Greengrass being back in the director’s chair will leave viewers breathless by the end of the film. Cynics can take a hike, has Jason Bourne delivers and is one of the best films of the summer. During this time of back to school and stale popcorn, fear not, Bourne is back after years of hiding and is ready to battle the U.S. government once again.

The Bourne trilogy is one of the freshest and exhilarating spy series to come to the big screen since it first debuted in 2002. Forget the cheap cash grab that came a few years back A.K.A. The Bourne Legacy. The disappointments of that fourth film are unraveled here thanks to Greengrass and Damon’s reunion. Damon returns to the role as the amnesiac assassin that made him an icon, still in hiding after the events of Ultimatum. After exposing the Operation Blackbriar and disappearing, Jason Bourne has finally recovered from his amnesia and has isolated himself from the world. Bourne is trying to live in peace by getting his knuckles bloody and bruised in illegal fighting rings. It takes Bourne's former Treadstone contact, Nicky Parsons (an excellent Julia Stiles), to get Jason back on the map.

Trying to expose the CIA’s black ops program, Parsons discovers a strange tie between Bourne’s father and Treadstone. Parsons also learns that the new CIA director Robert Dewey (an evil Tommy Lee Jones) is building his own shadow government with the help of compromised tech kingpin Aaron Kalloor (a terrific Riz Ahmed). During an austerity riot in Greece, Parsons comes in contact with Bourne and shares with him the new information. With all of this cyber terrorism weaved in-between the script, Greengrass doesn’t forget to convey the nerve-wrenching action scenes. In a Ferguson-like sequence, viewers are engulfed on the streets of Greece with riots and chaos.

Ace cinematographer Barry Aykroyd (The Hurt Locker) will leave you speechless as Bourne and Parsons zip through the fiery streets of Greece on a motorcycle. Noble actors to also look at in the film are Academy Award Winner Alicia Vikander as Heather Lee, the head of the CIA Cyber Ops Division and Vincent Cassel as the Asset, a Blackbriar assassin working for the Iron Hand program. With Jason Bourne, you get a sense of realism and awe throughout the film. Greengrass cuts back on the CGI and unveils truly special effects. With that, we get some of the most breathtaking car chase scenes ever put on film.

​The Vegas strip climax will go down in the books as one of the greatest chase sequences ever to be executed. IMDb has reported that “The Las Vegas car chase sequence took five weeks to shoot and at the end, the sequence wrecked 170 cars.” In the end, it was all worth it. This chase scene, alone, took me by complete surprise and shattered my conscience. Jason Bourne comes at a time where summer blockbusters can be muddled and the popcorn has gone stale. Refueling the franchise back to it’s finest form. This for some people can be its greatest flaw and I completely understand. Nevertheless, Bourne is back and ready too rumble. 

Jason Bourne is rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned). For intense sequences of violence and action, and brief strong language.