The fourth film in the Jason Bourne saga and fifth overall, has the man in question searching for answers on the origin of his mysterious past. “Jason Bourne” is the newest film from series originator Paul Greengrass, and stars Matt Damon as the lethal former CIA agent Jason Bourne, a powerful entity set on revealing the very darkest of secrets from the world’s ultimate band of protection. Several years after his disappearance at the conclusion of “The Bourne Ultimatum”, Jason unexpectedly resurfaces at a time when the world is faced with unprecedented instability about an uncertain future. At the same time, a new surveillance program has been created to hunt him down while he is on a cross-country journey still trying to find all the answers to his foggy past and family, while fighting against a deadly army that wants him removed from society. “Jason Bourne” is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of brutal violence and action/destruction, and brief strong adult language.

With this being the fifth film overall and fourth with the Jason Bourne character, my thoughts going into the movie were to see what made it different with a franchise that has far exceeded its expectations, and while “Jason Bourne” offers very little logic or reasoning as to why it even exists, it does pack enough of a rumbling punch to satisfy the biggest fans of this series. Simply put, this film is a decent film on its own, but when compared to the original trilogy, it is definitely the weakest offering of the series. A lot of that reason comes in some technical aspects that really make it difficult to follow and register the madness that is going on within its two hour runtime. The idea of the plot by itself feels like reheated room service that serves as a reflection upon the previous films, instead of a movie that tries to create its own balance. This thought process was confirmed to me in the opening five minutes of the movie when literally everything is explained from the previous films. I did enjoy this movie, but very little about it is original or breaks down the wall of repetition.

The action sequences were very elaborate and offered lots of destruction for the carnage nut in all of us. The final chase scene spans over 12 minutes long and gives us some of the best in 90’s action movie stunt work that we can recall from our younger years. The fight choreography is decent, despite there not being very many fight sequences in the film. My biggest problem with a lot of this area is the camera work, where there were some truly boneheaded decisions made on the look of the film. The character-to-character dialogue scenes are often too close to the faces of the cast. This is usually used in an artistic capacity to communicate the intimacy of any relationship within a film, but it really makes no sense here. What showed me that this mistake wasn’t just an accident of filmmaking was in the editing, as well the handheld camera work here, which is among some of the very worst that I have seen in 2016. This is a movie that feels like it needs a shot of Ritalin, as several times during conversation scenes the camera and framing work weave in and out of the people that we should be focused on. Picture a twelve year old holding his first camera ever, and you have two hours of nausea that will feel like the worst in any rollercoaster ride. The editing is too involved in the movie, and uses as many as three of the same shots from different angles in chase sequences and any time there is a big explosion. With so much wasted film within the movie, the experimenting process for Greengrass offering his audience something new is a thwarted attempt that is ruined at every turn.

The musical score for the movie, while repetitive on the familiar Bourne tones, does succeed in that beautiful wave of instant nostalgia that only musical scores can do. Composer David Buckley, who scored all of the previous Bourne films, returns and really slaps his brand with authority onto this film. His score moves along hand-in-hand with the movie’s fast pace, and I felt myself humming the familiar tones a few times throughout the anticipated scenes when Bourne gets closer to his past.

On the subject of past and storyline, I did enjoy the tie-in with this new assassin introduced into the film (Played by Vincent Cassel) who has a history with Jason that he is unaware of. It turns the film around, giving the screenplay that kind of “Hunter becomes the hunted” kind of feel. Also, even though it was entirely predictable, I did enjoy what we found out about Jason’s father, and the kinds of things that he was getting into before his untimely death. The film attempts to fill in the blanks of past storyline arcs, and for the most part it does do a solid job. My only gripes in the script comes with how uneven the pacing of this movie feels when the action scenes are so brutal and in your face, then you get twenty minutes of cool down, which the excitement level could be compared to watching maids sipping tea. It feels very uneven, and leaves those in-between moments very dull when you just witnessed such ruthless action.

Matt Damon still plays Bourne well, but his transition into full-on robot feels evident here. Damon has very little speaking scenes, and by this point in the saga we really don’t get any moments of human relation here. He certainly doesn’t make for the most exciting of action characters when you compare him to James Bond or anything The Rock is in. Where Damon sparks interest in his character is with his intelligence. We get the sense that Bourne is always one step ahead of those who track him, and it always makes for an enjoyable (albeit predictable) exchange. On the subject of supporting cast, Tommy Lee Jones plays the same character he has been playing for twenty five years, so nothing new to report there. Alicia Vikander is a solid addition for females who are dragged to this movie by their boyfriends. The best supporting actress winner at the Oscars proves once again that she isn’t confined to just one drama, and really immerses herself in her role as Lee.

Overall, “Jason Bourne” provided enough entertaining distraction in aggressive chase sequences, as well as some intriguing developments in the history of the character, to overcome some of the serious visual problems that the movie has going for it. It’s no secret that I am a bigger fan of Doug Liman’s director efforts for this series than I am Greengrass, but even after fourteen years of Bourne movies, the series still has a heartbeat. Lets just hope that pulse keeps ticking with its own identity next time.

6/10