Jason Bourne Review: 7 Ups And 3 Downs

2. It's Not As Strong On An Emotional Level

I talked in the Ups about the societal commentary side of the film, but sadly it doesn't quite strike as hard a chord on the emotional side. Jason Bourne's an interesting character and the daddy issues he explores here fit nicely in the bigger picture, but it's never quite as involving as it could be.

This is always a potential issue when you're making a movie that's so built on the viscerally of its action. Take a look at Greengrass' other films, specifically United 93 and Captain Phillips. They're using real life events to power the story, which immediately gives us a stronger connection and understanding of the characters before a single frame's been shown, but importantly the director scattered emotive beats throughout those movies to build to their heartbreaking pay-offs. Here there's not the time given to doing the same here.

It may be something inherent with Bourne as a person; now he has his memories back, he's essentially a different character, so there's considerably less of the initial appeal to explore. He works as a plot-driven character (and, as I said earlier, is a cracking action hero), but maybe can't command emotional relevance in the same way. Then again, the same was once true of Bond, and look how 007s developed.