There’s a case to be made that the five Jason Bourne films are the most consistent, influential and successful spy franchise of the 21st century. Bond has had his ups and down, to put it mildly, and now stares into a murky future under his new Amazon masters, without a lead actor. Mission: Impossible limped towards its finish, with ever spiralling budgets and diminishing returns. But Bourne proved almost as unstoppable in cinemas as he did in the movies’ story-lines, the films easily grossing more than three times their budget, with a worldwide total at the box-office north of $1.6 billion. They also introduced a new vocabulary to the language of action cinema – though it’s up to you whether or not this was a good thing.
The series is based on a popular literary franchise by Robert Ludlum, whose books are estimated to have sold at least three hundred million copies. The first novel featuring Jason Bourne, The Bourne Identity, was published in 1980, and eight years later, was made into a TV series starring Richard Chamberlain as the title character. However, much like the books of Ian Fleming, there’s very little kept in the movie adaptations, beyond their titles and the name of the hero.
Doug Liman had been a fan of the first book since reading it in school, and was interested in developing a film version as early as 1996. But at that point, the rights were still owned by Warner Bros. They opted not to renew them, and when they reverted back to Ludlum in 1999, Liman was able to move forward. He visited the author at his remote home in Glacier National Park, and obtained Ludlum’s blessing – though the author would not live to see the movie, passing away in March 2001.
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Rating: B
Dir: Doug Liman
Star: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Brian Cox
This goes to show that a troubled production is not always a death sentence for a movie. The problems here began shortly before production began, with director and star teaming up to demand the revised script get junked, along with a lot of pre-production work. There were also battles with the studio over pacing, with executives wanting a more action-driven product, and Liman’s fondness for reshoots and rewrites led to the production going $8 million over budget. But it proved a big success, both in cinemas and on home-video, representing perhaps the first down to earth, post-9/11 action film. Liman’s cynicism regarding American foreign policy was perhaps driven by his father, who was the US Senate’s chief counsel during their investigation of Iran–Contra.
It does use the old cinematic trope of amnesia, with Jason Bourne (Damon) fished out of the Mediterranean by a trawler, unable to remember who he is, or where he came from. An inserted chip gets him to a Swiss safe-deposit filled with guns, passports and money, suggesting a covert existence. It also alerts his masters, a CIA black ops program called Treadstone, run by Alexander Conklin (Cooper), that he’s not as dead as they’d like. He half-hijacks, half-bribes conveniently passing German, Marie Kreutz (Potente), to drive him to Paris. However, this puts her on the wanted list, leaving her with no option save throwing her lot in with Jason, as he fends off Conklin’s efforts to tidy up loose ends.
I liked this more now than I did at the time, when I gave it a C rating, and snarkily commented, “Bourne has all his old skills… except, conveniently, any interest in disguising himself, which you’d think might be an early step when every agency murderer in Europe is on your tail. As indeed would getting the hell out of Paris.” I mean, I wasn’t wrong. Perhaps in the modern days of omnipresent surveillance and things like gait analysis, disguise and hiding seem pointless. I did note the impact of Clive Owen’s minor role, and that remains something which deserved better. Julia Stiles also gets surprisingly little to do, though at least she would go on to far bigger things in the franchise.
While Liman was an interesting choice, with no particular track-record of action, it’s handled well, with the car chase through Paris particularly memorable. These sequences do tend to be guilty of the MTV-style editing, which poisoned action movies over the next decade or so, culminating in the infamous Taken 3 fence scene. Here, though, things remain coherent: unlike some films which aped the technique, you’re never lost as to what’s happening. It’s interesting he was hands-off on the sequels, though Liman’s next film was the even bigger budget Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I suspect it’s probably Damon who proved key to the film’s success. His Jason Bourne manages to hit the sweet spot of adrenaline, brain and heart in an unexpected way. It’s not a film in any need of a sequel, yet deserves one.
The problems during production led the studio to move on from Liman as a director, though he remained in the credits as a producer. They went with British director Paul Greengrass instead, being impressed by his neo-documentary approach in Bloody Sunday. Greengrass was very familiar with the genuine world of espionage. In the eighties, he co-wrote the notorious memoir, Spycatcher, with the former assistant director of MI5, Peter Wright. The British government sought to ban the book, and even now, documents related to the matter are still locked away in the archives. That may factor into the grounded approach he took to the next two movies in the series, including the franchise’s likely peak in Ultimatum.
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Rating: C
Dir: Paul Greengrass
Star: Matt Damon, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Marton Csokas
As mentioned in my review of its predecessor, it isn’t a sequel we needed. However, after the success of Identity, this was probably inevitable. It’s a bit disappointing, truth be told. The script isn’t as strong, and Greengrass’s style here is too frenetic for me. We left Jason (Damon) and Marie living happily ever after, Bourne having threatened his employers with dire consequences if they do not leave him alone. Guess what? They do not. Someone decides it would be a good idea to frame Bourne for killing CIA agents in Berlin, an effort to cover up the misdirection of $20 million of agency money, and then try to kill him in Goa. What a silly billy!
You will be unsurprised to learn, it doesn’t work as planned. Though I was far from happy with the way they did Lola Marie in. She deserved better, and I can’t blame Jason for being a bit peeved. It’s not long before he is back from his sabbatical, looking to uncover the real perpetrator for CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy (Allen). Meanwhile the culprit tries to cover his – or her – tracks, with the help of Jarda (Csokas), a man who, like Bourne, is a former Treadstone assassin. By the time the credits roll, you’ll be forgiven for suffering from jet-lag, having gone through Goa, Naples, Munich, Berlin, Moscow and New York. But at least Jason learns his real name! So that’s nice.
While still getting my #JusticeForMarie T-shirt made, I was pondering the idiocy of the main plot. Did nobody remember the first movie? I seem to recall CIA Section Chief Ward Abbott (Cox) being present. In the annals of stupid ideas, likely to backfire, framing Jason Bourne to cover up your crimes probably ranks alongside land wars in Asia. All the mayhem and carnage which follows is… Well, really: what did you expect? It’s a contrast to the first movie, where it felt like everyone involved was smart. Here, it’s more like Bourne going up against the bronze medal winners in the Special Olympics for intelligence agencies. I occasionally felt Jason was going to pat Deputy Director Landy on the head, and give her a cookie.
Then there’s Greengrass’s approach. I’d forgotten just how manic some action films from the mid-two thousands could be. There is some good stuff on the action front, when the film calms down. There’s an impressive house explosion, for instance, and the final car chase through the streets of the Russian capital has more impact than most. However, you will have to get used to the fact you’re not going to get coherent sequences. Your brain will perpetually be three shots behind, going “Hang on… Wait, what was that? Can we just…” If the original now feels ahead of its time, and has improved with age, this feels more like a throwback to an unfortunate period in genre cinema, one which would be better forgotten.
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Rating: A-
Dir: Paul Greengrass
Star: Matt Damon, David Strathairn, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles
When I wrote my original review, I concluded, “This is an amazingly kinetic experience, reminiscent of the best Alias episodes, that grabs you by the adrenal gland and squeezes it gently for two hours.” That reference to Alias gives you an idea of how long ago it was. But if anything, I sold this short. It’s one of the finest action/spy thrillers of all time, I would venture to suggest – up there with the best of the Bond franchise. Its qualities are all the more remarkable, considering how mediocre the second film was, made by the same writer, director and star. Everyone is greatly improved here, despite this starting mere minutes after the end of Supremacy.
The plot here starts with Jason Bourne (Damon) trying to contact a journalist with a source feeding him information about Treadstone. This puts him in the crosshairs of CIA executive Noah Vosen (Strathairn), the man in charge of Blackbriar, a project which is more or less Treadstone on ‘roids. Vosen’s efforts to terminate Bourne, and anyone on the fugitive’s side, bring him into conflict with fellow Deputy Director Pamela Landy (Allen), and former Treadstone agent Nicky Parsons (Stiles). Once again, you think people would have learned that going after Bourne is… unwise. Just let it go. However, since the results here are so impressive, and Strathairn makes for an excellent, committed and generally intelligent villain, I am prepared to overlook this.
Indeed, the script is considerably smarter all round, with Bourne being particularly clever. Another big improvement is Greengrass reining in his fondness for hyperactive editing. It’s still quite busy, occasionally a little too much so. The chase across the rooftops of Tangier would be a case in point. But it works to a far greater degree, and nowhere better than a scene in Waterloo Station, where Bourne is trying to shepherd his journalist contact past Vosen’s watchers and killers. This is a masterpiece of action cinema, like watching chess in human form, with surveillance, counter-surveillance and counter-counter-surveillance. Editor Christopher Rouse fully earned the Academy Award he won, but everyone involved in its construction deserves the highest praise. It’s one of the best such sequences in the 21st century.
To be honest, I found myself with a sneaking regard for Vosen. “No more getting the bad guys caught in our sights, then watching them escape while we wait for someone in Washington to issue an order.” Well, he’s not wrong there. He’s just out of his depth trying to neutralize Bourne, no matter how big a perimeter he demands be locked down. I would, perhaps, question his security protocols. Can the CIA not afford that hi-tech anti-spying apparatus known as “curtains”? Yet the payoff for this is just so delicious, once more, I’ve no issues with allowing it. There’s an unexpected surprise return at the end – no, it’s not his late girlfriend #JusticeForMarie – and it’s all highly satisfying. Great to see a franchise get back on track in such an effective manner.
Ultimatum won three Academy Awards: while these were for technical categories (Film Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing), it’s still a rarity for the genre. It was originally intended to end the series, but $443 million of box-office changed Universal’s mind about that. The only problem? Greengrass wasn’t interested at that point – and considering the commercial and critical success, it’s understandable he wanted to go out on top. Damon then resolutely refused too, saying “I wouldn’t do it without him.” Some studios might have taken the loss of their director and face of the franchise a sign to stop. But Universal were made of… ah, sterner stuff.
The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Rating: C+
Dir: Tony Gilroy
Star: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach
You can perhaps call this the On Her Majesty’s Secret Service of the Bourne franchise. Regardless of a highly successful preceding film, the makers had to go with a new star as the lead character, and it really didn’t work. Though this isn’t necessarily terrible: if it hadn’t been a Bourne movie, it would have been fine, and has some cool moments. But missteps such as having it take place in parallel to the events of Ultimatum do little, except remind you how good that was. The central plot has the ripples from the exposure of Treadstone and Blackbriar affecting other secret programs, which need rapid termination. Specifically Operation Outcome, a project to create enhanced super-soldiers.
One of these is Aaron Cross (Jenner), who does not take kindly to a drone-powered attempt at said rapidly termination. He stuffs his RFID chip down a wolf’s throat (!) to fake his death. Meanwhile, at the drug company providing materials for Outcome, Dr. Marta Shearing (Weisz) is the only survivor after a rampage by a co-worker. She is subsequently saved from being suicided by Cross, and the pair head to the Philippines to find something which will lock in Cross’s upgrades. Naturally -and as we have seen throughout this franchise – the powers that be, such as Admiral Mark Turso (Keach), the man in charge of Outcome, or Col. Eric Byer (Norton), are not willing to let it go. This goes as well as it usually does.
I noted, way back in my review of the original movie, “I suspect it’s probably Damon who proved key to the film’s success.” A decade later, the studio saw fit to prove my point, by attempting to make a Jason Bourne movie without Jason Bourne. I’m not sure in what universe this seemed like a successful idea. Probably the same one where studio execs thought crowds would roll up for a Mad Max film without Mad Max. Again, it’s not a particular reflection on the film’s quality. It’s more that entering a movie called The Bourne Legacy comes with certain expectations. Such as the film having more than trace amounts of the titular character. Call it The Cross Conundrum and be done with it.
Super-soldiers created through dubious science by a more dubious company, operating under very dubious orders? Yeah, it feels less grounded than previous movies, and closer in tones to things like the Universal Soldier franchise. Jenner has the taciturn hero schtick down well enough. There’s just not much else. He frequently resembles a Terminator (top), and it’s easy to see why he ended up in the MCU. I did appreciate how Gilroy had a more restrained approach than Paul Greengrass. However, I suspect it’s likely significant – though for what reason I don’t know – that the director hasn’t helmed another feature since this. A solid vehicle chase through the streets of Manila (where everyone seems to leave their keys in the ignition) is the standout sequence, in a movie which is otherwise the definition of forgettably competent.
To be fair, Greengrass nor Damon never said “never”, to borrow a phrase from another spy franchise. In 2007, Damon said, “If Paul Greengrass calls me in ten years and says, ‘Now we can do it, because it’s been ten years and I have a way to bring him back,’ then there’s a world in which I can go, ‘Yeah, absolutely.’ We could get the band back together.” It took slightly less, with the pair announcing in 2014 they would return to the franchise – much to Universal’s relief, I imagine. Also worth noting, the return of Oscar-winning editor Christopher Rouse, who co-wrote the script with Greengrass. Despite a decade having passed, the budget of $125 million was comparable to Ultimatum and slightly below Legacy.
Jason Bourne (2016)
Rating: B-
Dir: Paul Greengrass
Star: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel
On the one hand, it’s definitely nice to have Damon and Greengrass back: the former in particular, is the acting equivalent of a comfortable sweater. On the other, can I just bitch about the title which breaks the pattern of the previous four? I mean, I can bend the rules slightly, so that in our A-Z listing, entries #1-4 appear in chronological order, alphabet be damned. But J is not B, dammit, so this one will probably sit between Jason and the Argonauts and Jason vs. Freddy. As a way to wrap up the franchise, which seems increasingly likely the case, it is solid, with perhaps the most spectacular action set-piece of the entire franchise.
In the near-decade since we last saw him, it appears that Jason Bourne (Damon) has become… a street fighter in Greece. I’d have said other opportunities would be available to a highly-trained former CIA operative, but what do I know. Nicky Parsons – remember her? – hacks into the CIA and discovers documents about the origins of Treadstone, and the role played by Jason’s father. There’s a reason she’s not in the cast list above, shall we say. Those who are, include the latest in a long line of ill-advised CIA directors, Robert Dewey (Jones); his cybersecurity nerd Heather Lee (Vikander), who appears to have a face capable of about 1.5 expressions in total; and their trained attack-dog, referred to only as “The Asset” (Cassel), who is very enthusiastic about his job.
The early going is a bit rough, being a series of what seems to be Greengrass attempting to recapture the Waterloo Station magic of Ultimatum. I wasn’t impressed with Nicky’s cybercrime either. It and the CIA’s reaction both seemed to be only slightly connected to reality, and more theatrical than credible. Things get better with a nice bit of stalk and counter-stalk around Paddington, which shows that what Greengrass really needed was just to be in the vicinity of a London railway station. We then whizz off to Las Vegas for the finale, and a genuinely jaw-dropping chase along the Strip (top). Okay, it’s even less plausible than the hacking, because in reality, the street moves at a crawl most evenings. But the result is so impressive, I’ll allow it.
Bourne is almost entirely a man of action here. He could go head-to-head with the Terminator in a taciturn contest. I’m fine with that: by this stage, we’re familiar with him that we don’t need him to expound much. There’s a subplot about a social media company being in cahoots with the CIA. I dunno, was that anything other than a given in the dim and distant past of 2016? It may just be a way in which the franchise has now been caught up and passed by real life. Bourne here projects a major dose of “I am tired of your shit”, and I’m satisfied there is no need for any further entries in the series. Mind you, didn’t I say the same after part one?
There, for the moment, the matter rests. There was a spin-off TV series, Treadstone, on the USA Network in 2019. Though you’d be forgiven for having missed it, since by the end of its ten episodes, the audience was under 400,000. A sixth film was reported to be in development around the same time, and rumblings continued through 2023, with Edward Berger as director. Damon’s presence was unconfirmed. The title still appears in the IMDb as Jason Bourne Exodus. However, in March this year, Universal’s rights to the franchise expired, with Ludlum’s estate reported to be shopping them to other parties, including Apple and Netflix. With Bond now ensconced at Amazon, we might see a streaming spy battle break out in the latter half of the decade.