Matt Damon.
Watching Matt Damon (and his stunt driver) turn the Las Vegas Strip into a demolition derby near the end of “Jason Bourne,” it merits the question: What would novelist Robert Ludlum (1927-2001), who created the character that turned the “Good Will Hunting” actor into even more of a household name, make of all this mayhem? Would he approve of the capably orchestrated, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink vehicular pileup? Or would he think, “You know, maybe this is all becoming a little old?”
Matt Damon, Julia Stiles.
More than a little, I'd say. The fourth screen incarnation of the iconic role (fifth if you count the 1988 TV adaptation of “The Bourne Identity” starring Richard Chamberlain) boasts all the ingredients of a fine thriller: global intrigue, elaborate setpieces, impressive stuntwork and an eclectic cast headlined by a brawny Damon. The nation's current box office king ($60 million and counting) even managed to lure back Irish director Paul Greengrass, who took over the reins of the franchise from Doug Liman on the prior two Damon installments, “The Bourne Supremacy” and the Oscar-winning “The Bourne Ultimatum,” with dependably solid results.
But save for a few skillfully staged cat-and-mouse moments, “Jason Bourne” just lays there, jittery yet inert, a frantic “Where's Waldo” with zero gumption. It's a past-its-expiration-date, occasionally preachy spy tale that fails to get the juices flowing.
Tommy Lee Jones.
Politically, though, it's admirable what Greengrass was aiming to convey here. His sobering portrayal of the CIA as a den of vipers only in it for career advancement and power couldn't be more timely, but the sense of urgency is undercut by a plot so tired that makes one wonder why everyone bothered to show up in the first place.
Because you're curious about what happened to Bourne after he went off the grid at the end of “Ultimatum,” you say? Greengrass answers that question fairly quickly: The former amnesiac boxes for cash. There he is, giving an opponent near the Greek-Armenian border the ol' left-hook that knocks the poor sucker cold immediately. (Wait, did Bourne turn into Achilles, or at least the way his buddy Brad Pitt played him in “Troy?”) He derives no joy from it. Unfortunately, neither does the audience. Bourne has become a shell of a man, glum and morose. Much like the film he's in.
Alicia Vikander, Matt Damon.
He's a sourpuss with unresolved daddy issues, as it turns out. A face from the past, Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), tracks him down in Greece to warn him, 1) Big Brother is still watching, 2) there's Major Stuff about his past he needs to know about, and 3) she hacked the CIA to gather said intel. The revelation hits a chord for the monosyllabic loner. After all, he's been having these painful flashbacks of his father, Richard Webb (Gregg Henry), which appear to be related into how he agreed to become a “Manchurian Candidate”-style assassin for Uncle Sam.
Oops, too late! Langley's already on his tail. That would be thanks to up-and-coming Heather Lee (a steely-eyed, catatonic Alicia Vikander), under the supervision of shady CIA Director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones, who knows a thing or two about tracking fugitives). They stare at infrared images and bark orders in the hopes of catching the rogue menace to society before he spills all kinds of clichéd government secrets. Now that's leadership!
Tommy Lee Jones, Matt Damon.
The chase resumes in the middle of a massive demonstration in front of the Greek Parliament building, but right away it becomes clear Greengrass (“Bloody Sunday,” “United 93”), an expert in bringing social unrest to life with raw immediacy, is off his game. Rather than capture chaos, the turmoil here is unfocused, muddled. Instead of sucking you right into the action, it takes you out of it.
As a result, “Jason Bourne” is more numbing than kinetic. Greengrass appears to want to make this interesting for himself, so he also inserts exchanges between Dewey and computer whiz kid Aaron Kalloor (“Nightcrawler'”s Riz Ahmed), whom the CIA director wants to rope in, in which both men debate the ethics of government surveillance. During these scenes, “Bourne” more closely resembles Greengrass' war thriller “Green Zone” (2010), also starring Damon, which was also marred by a tendency to step on the soapbox. If the dialogue here lacks some of the snap from the previous “Bourne” movies, that's because there's a key player missing: screenwriter Tony Gilroy. His absence is felt throughout.
Vincent Cassel.
It's not as if “Jason Bourne” is completely devoid of thrills. The film occasionally comes to life when, say, Greengrass puts together a genuinely tense encounter between Bourne, CIA gents and a hired gun (a wasted Vincent Cassel) in London. The filmmaker only lets his hair down, albeit all too fleetingly, in the aforementioned Vegas showdown, which mostly tosses politics aside for the sake of delivering the goods, and if the chase is more than a tad over the top, it's certainly exhilarating to watch unfold.
Then the movie returns to its regularly scheduled programming: a rote summer bummer where, ironically enough, events feel more preordained the more Greengrass recycles his patented brand of faux-vérité realism. He thinks he's calling out government overreach, but he's made a movie that's too stale to be subversive.
