rennervision

The unimaginative title ("Jason Bourne") seems to fit perfectly with the unimaginative story.

OldBoy

yeah me too. probably last one i'll see in theater is SS...

Vipper II

This was one of the biggest reasons I wanted to see the movie, and that chase didn't disappoint; however, they sure made it from Bally's to Riviera pretty quickly. It's like they bypassed a mile's worth of The Strip.

DJariya

Just got back from a matinee.

I'd give it 3 1/2 out of 5 and maybe a B-

Really slow 1st hour and as mentioned Damon/Bourne hardly has any dialogue.

But, the 2nd hour was good with lots of action/fight scenes and a pretty spectacular car chase sequence through the Las Vegas strip. I think that sequence alone made the film worth seeing. Considering how busy the strip is, I'm amazed they pulled that off.

My question is after 9 years, why bring back Bourne again to expose yet another rogue CIA Black Ops unit? That story element felt tired.

If they're going to bring back Damon for a 5th Jason Bourne movie, I'd like to see him actually fighting real bad guys/terrorists that are a threat to the U.S. No more Government conspiracies/cover ups. And no more rogue Black ops in pursuit of him.

Defiant1

Because his dad started the whole thing.

DJariya

Yeah I know. I appreciated that they gave some more backstory into Bourne/David Webb and the mystery surrounding his father. But, I still think that story element was tired. I'm just tired of seeing these rogue government operatives. And then in this movie we get Tommy Lee Jones as another rogue CIA leader. As I said, if Jason Bourne gets another movie, I think they need to go into a different direction.

Brack

Agreed, if there is more of the same in a sequel, I'll probably give up seeing these in theaters, but the movie seemed to pick up pace more or less in the last hour that made it worth seeing. Seems most folks here were disappointed wth the plot in general, rehashed characters, etc. I will say it felt like Supremacy and Ultimatum mashed up. I imagine there will be a couple more of these with Damon unless he is just doing a one and done thing, but I hadn't seen anything like that written. I'm still convinced there's a little bit of misremembering of the serie. This was never some revolutionary series. Sure, it helped inspire the current Bond series somewhat, but if people were expecting Bourne to be doing anything other than try to figure out his past, fight CIA, etc., I wonder what everyone was watching a decade ago. I'm curious how it will hold up this weekend. Damon seems to bring in an older demographic, so I don't necessarily see it being clobbered by Suicide Squad since this isn't your typical summer movie series.

d2cheer

Tired sequel... chase was cool that was about it.

robin2099

I saw it. Overall I enjoyed it but I will say that it wasn't anything spectacular. Seeing Damon back as Bourne is fun and if you have seen the other two movies Greenegrass directed you know what you will get. The thing that lacked the most was the story. It was very simplistic and kind of felt like an afterthought. I mean how many CIA agents are there who have screwed Bourne? I also didn't like Alicia Vikander much.

Overall I would give it a 3.5/5 Probably the worst of the Damon Bourne movies but still better than Legacy and is worth a watch for the action and to see Damon in the role again.

fujishig

Vikander goes from ambitious young agent looking to move her way up to rule breaker to pretty quickly. Was her wooden acting on purpose? I mean she didn't really seem to have much insight into the real shenanigans going on, so I was a bit shocked by that scene.

And that tech company that made the listening device, I hope they're really successful because that technology is pretty amazing.

Also unless there's been some major technological advances I've just missed, the hacking and computer stuff was just outlandish. I did like the "use sql to corrupt their database" line, which was trying to show how this place is filled with hackers. I've learned to turn off my cell phone or someone can hack into my computer or something.

mattysemo247

We saw it last night and liked it a lot. We were trying to catch up on the past movies and were able to watch Identity and Supremacy, but wasn't able to watch Ultimatum in time before seeing this one. I agree, it was odd that Bourne didn't have many lines. Matt Damon is also starting to look a little old and tired to play the role. But the action didn't disappoint one bit. The riot scene was really cool (and a little too close to home since our city just went through the whole Ferguson thing not too long ago) and the car chase at the end was a little too over the top compared to the chase scenes from the past movies, but small gripes there. Overall, if you are a fan of the franchise, you know what to expect. It's just more of the same, if anything, a little lackluster than the previous entries, but certainly worth watching on the big screen. Even a slightly disappointing Bourne movie is better than most of the stuff that has come out this summer.

PS - I am sooooo glad that they finally knocked off Nicky. Julia Stiles can't act for shit and every scene she was in felt out of place with her wooden character.

JimRochester

I liked her in 10 Things I Hate About You. I never felt her character was given that much to do until Ultimatum. But her husky voice played into the type of person that would do that job.

RichC2

I also liked her in Ultimatum, she fit the role well.

Michael Corvin

I liked the flick, but I can't argue with most of the complaints. The plot was thin, but it could have easily gone deeper into some of the things broached instead of falling back into 'rogue CIA agent' territory. The riot scene at the beginning was 'effing epic. With the intensity level, sound mix and Greengrass' camera work, it felt like I was there. I was less enamored with the final chase as everone else. It was a little too over the top, treading into Fast & Furious territory. I also wasn't a fan of using an American muscle car. These flicks have excelled at using off beat rides for three films and pushing a car you wouldn't think would work to the brink. It's like having James Bond play Poker, it just felt 'off.' I loved the final scene/cliffhanger. The flick needed more low key / subtle moments like that. It definitely had more of an Identity vibe during the closing minutes.

A few other random beats:
Despite whatever beef anyone has with Stiles, she at least kept Bourne grounded. Without Marie or Nicky, Bourne has just become a superhero. He's a character that need's a woman in his life. I liked her in Ultimatum, but will concede that she was kind of wooden here. I too would have liked to see more of their relationship during the time since the last flick.

I also agree that the supporting cast just can't touch Joan Allen, Chris Cooper, or Brian Cox. Each one set the bar high and those that followed just raised the bar even higher. Tommy Lee was decent casting and clearly has the chops to reach that bar but alas it wasn't meant to be. I kept waiting for him to break out and just chew up some scenery but it never happened.

As for the complaints about Damon's lack of dialog, that was actually a conscious decision when they were making Ultimatum. IIRC, it's discussed on one of the behind the scenes features. Something about how he had more dialog in the script but it just wasn't working, so they took a less is more approach and realized Bourne works best by speaking through action. So it seems silly to levy that complaint now, when it was in full effect in the last flick as well.

All that being said, I loved it because it's still Damon kicking ass as Bourne. I loathe this phrase but this might be the only time I use it... a subpar Bourne is still better than a lot of other summer flicks.

Michael Corvin

Oh and my one big plot gripe is you have Nicky working with this supposed super-hacker and he just leaves his wi-fi on all the time? Bourne shows up with this ultra classified intel on a thumb drive and he just leaves the network on while he casually peruses said files? Why? Everything Bourne wanted to look at could have been done offline.

fujishig

His network was secure, how was he supposed to know the CIA could hack into his computer from a nearby cellphone? They can also implant tracking software on a thumb drive that activates from anywhere, bypassing any security systems.

What in the world was the CEO going to reveal at that press conference? His relationship with the CIA director, which would have instantly torpedoed his own company? How was that worthy of assassination?

I'll agree the action was great, but the plot...

RichC2

I dunno, probably something about hand sanitizer.

Michael Corvin

The only secure network is one that is offline. If a buddy tells me to pop in a thumb drive full of classified documents you bet your ass I'm turning my network off first. For a character that is supposed to outsmart his opponents at every turn, it seemed pretty amateurish. Equally so for a super hacker that is probably looking over his shoulder at all times.

fujishig

Actually I think it was offline, though it doesn't explain how the malware got the signal out. When the CIA was looking for ways in, the only IP address they found was for the phone, right? I don't exactly remember, the cell phone thing kinda threw me for a loop.

Ringmaster

I just came back from the theater and had a great time with it BUT this was going through my head during this scene. Even Bourne knows a thing or two about the internet and how not to be traced while using a computer.

Other than that, this was a Popcorn movie from beginning to end and I hope they make a other one.

dvdjunkie32

I'm a huge fan of the series, and this movie didn't disappoint me. Yes, it's a recycled plot, but so was the new Star Wars and I had fun with that. I think if Greengrass went in a totally different direction, people would be bitching that this didn't feel like a Jason Bourne movie. I went in wanting exciting chases, a bad-ass assassin on his heels, and seeing a lot high tech computer wizardly and it delivered. I liked how they used line of sight to allow the shooter on foot to still be able to target Bourne on a fast motorcycle.

One thing that didn't add up to me was the Dewey character. First, where was this guy in the previous storylines? Did he just suddenly rise up the ranks? Also, I don't get why he betrayed Lee. She wanted to bring Bourne in so instead of just reassigning her, he setups her up on a mission to fail and has no problem with 4 agents being murdered just so he could kill Bourne. If he was that cold hearted about killing members of his own agenda, why not just kill Lee in the first place to shut up her up?

The father reveal made this film fit in with the trilogy and relevant to me.

TheHive08

I enjoyed it too. I love the first three, and while this one didn't live up to those standards, it was still an enjoyable time. If they decided to make another one, I'd see it also. Damon is still very good in the role, and I'd still prefer to see him headlining than casting another actor and going a different direction like Legacy did. I'd give it a solid B to B+.

Michael Corvin

They definitely didn't flesh out Dewey's character enough. Why did he want Bourne killed so badly that he would go to such extreme measures? Just because Bourne's dossier says so doesn't cut it.

slop101

From Engadget:
"'Jason Bourne' is embarrassingly dumb about tech"
It's practically a comedy

[excerpt]

fujishig

I thought they explained this ok. He reason he doesn't just reassign Lee is the same reason he goes along with her plan, she brought it up in front of his superior officer and blindsided him. He wanted Bourne killed because he's gone rogue and basically knows too much, plus he has access to other secrets now too.

I don't get why the big reveal about Bournes father was so big, though. what does it matter at this point?

There are so many other plot holes as well. Why kill anyone at a Vegas conference, the one place where there are cameras literally everywhere? How many times does Bourne just get lucky, especially after falling down/getting hurt? Why was the CEO of a huge company going to out himself on his own and destroy his company? And again all the tech stuff.