9 Problems A Jason Bourne Sequel Must Avoid
Perhaps they should have just called it The Bourne Familiarity...
The original Jason Bourne trilogy is arguably one of the best trilogies of all time. Not only did they make the then pretty-boy-Will-Hunting Matt Damon a megastar and genuine box office draw, they also changed the action cinema landscape forever.
The use of shaky-cam along with the intense and realistic (by movie standards anyway) action sequences would be poorly copied and pasted for years to follow, much like the initially beloved 'bullet time' phenomenon from the first Matrix movie.
Not to mention the franchise forced one of the biggest cinema icons of all time, James Bond, to undergo a major modern overhaul.
Following such a conflicted killer as he attempts to trace his lost memories and find out why the Hell he is a killer in the first place, is one of the most intriguing thrill rides of modern action cinema and placed squarely at the centre is Matt Damon's Jason Bourne. Bourne is not only an insanely capable badass, he is a captivating exploration of a pulpy amnesiac assassin. Plus, he beats people up with household items so...there's that.
So, after the failure of the Jeremy Renner fronted spin off The Bourne Legacy the announcement of a Paul Greengrass helmed, Matt Damon fronted sequel could not have been a more exciting prospect. Why then was it such a critical disappointment? Well, many reasons but here are a few ways it could have been fixed.
(Spoilers to follow, but don't worry, because if you've seen the first three then you've basically seen this one too.)
9. There Are No Truly Stand-Out Moments
Say what you want about the Bourne trilogy. Maybe you think they're too formulaic, maybe you hate the shaky-cam or maybe you're just weird and hate Matt Damon. Whatever your opinion may be, all three movies are undeniably filled with stand-out moments.
Don't agree? Here's a short list; car chase in a mini, fight with a ball-point pen, scaling down a building like Spider-man, fight with a rolled up magazine, sniper on the roof, on the run in Waterloo station, fight with a book and of course window jumping.
He fights a whole lot in these films, but these are just the big, in your face moments. There are hundreds of stand-out, quieter moments between characters as well as just watching Bourne be competent in ludicrously threatening situations.
Jason Bourne has none of these; none that really stand-out anyway. Aside from the austerity protests sequence in Greece, no part of Jason Bourne will stick with you after the credits roll, and even that sequence will be gone come the next day.
Following on from its iconic predecessors this is certainly one of the most disappointing things to take away from the film. Much like Bourne, you too will feel like you have amnesia when you try to think of anything distinctive.