By Ariel Kohane
Arts Reporter
4/5 stars
I was hesitant to see this movie after the disappointment that was The Bourne Legacy, but luckily this film is nothing like its predecessor.
In the fifth instalment of the Bourne series, Matt Damon is back as the titular master assassin. He wants revenge on the people at Treadstone, a government-run program that trained assassins like him and is hellbent on getting it. Alicia Vikander plays government agent Heather Lee, who helps Bourne take down the corrupt leader of the CIA, Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones).
The last “true” Bourne film was The Bourne Ultimatum, which came out in 2007, but Damon is still impressively daring and physically active almost 10 years later. You would think that after all this time, he would have fallen out of shape, or at least been severely injured from all of his crazy stunts in the original trilogy, but Damon seems to have taken it all in stride. Still, it was hard at times to believe that the 45 year old actor was truly as youthful as his character supposedly is.
Aside from that, the movie did a solid job of keeping the spirit of the original movies alive. Director Paul Greengrass made the excellent choice to return to the franchise for the fifth movie and brought back an air of mystery that is peeled back layer by layer as the film progresses. Greengrass’s directing style is part of what made the Bourne trilogy so much fun to watch. With action packed fight scenes and flashbacks, the audience is never bored.
In addition, Vikander’s portrayal as the leader of the technology division at the CIA was surprisingly strong. She helps Bourne exact his revenge and is never shown to be weak or incompetent, as women often are in this genre of film. If anything, she’s absolutely crucial to Bourne’s operation.
The film leaves a slew of loose ends, most of which will hopefully be cleared up in a yet-to-be-released follow up film. In any case, this movie was a huge success, and will make you completely forget about the disappointment that was The Bourne Legacy.
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