Jason Bourne

For nearly ten years, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) was successfully in hiding. But now he must face his past again. Because when former CIA agent Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) hacks into the CIA's network to steal and make public information about secret programs like Treadstone, of which Bourne was a part, she stumbles upon important secrets from Bourne's past life. But the hack doesn't go unnoticed and quickly the CIA, led by ambitious agent Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander), sticks to Parson's heels. The information about the secret programs must not be published under any circumstances and all who know about it must be eliminated - first and foremost, of course, Jason Bourne, who after a meeting with Parsons is again in the crosshairs of his enemies. But of course, a perfectly trained human weapon like Jason Bourne cannot be stopped that easily.

After a rather disappointing attempt to continue the Bourne series without Jason Bourne aka Matt Damon, Damon and director Paul Greengrass (parts 2 + 3) have teamed up again after a nine-year hiatus to once again offer fans an intelligent action thriller of the highest order with Jason Bourne. That this also succeeds should also be guaranteed by the participation of screenwriter Christopher Rouse, who had already worked on Damon's first three appearances as Bourne as an editor. So then, the plot of The Bourne Legacy is largely ignored and connected to the events of The Bourne Ultimatum. And even though Jason Bourne can now remember who he is, all the secrets surrounding Project Treadstone are far from uncovered.

And therein lies the problem with what is otherwise a very exciting film. The story turns more and more in circles, moves too much on safe and well-trodden terrain to still be able to captivate 100%. It would have been desirable if the makers had stepped out of their comfort zone and tied Jason Bourne, a really good character in his own right, into a whole new plot. The Treadstone plot is really exhausted now and doesn't really offer anything surprising despite the new revelations. What distinguished the first Bourne films was that they were not only good action films, but also intelligent thrillers. Jason Bourne is a bit different. Here, the action is clearly in the foreground, while the actual story is degraded to a minor matter.

Despite this: Paul Greengrass has managed to craft an extremely entertaining conspiracy thriller from the all-too-familiar set pieces, in which Matt Damon once again gets to convincingly present himself as an action hero. The chases through Athens and Las Vegas, which introduce and conclude the film, are absolutely great and offer action cinema at a very high level. The more drawn out moments are still absolutely worth watching thanks to the very good acting of Oscar winner Alicia Vikander or a delightfully scheming Tommy Lee Jones. And France's superstar Vincent Cassel is also just great as a merciless hitman who has a personal score to settle with Bourne.

Sure, Jason Bourne may not be the best installment in the series. But the stirring direction (apart from the Greengrass-typical shaky camera), the good actors and some really excellent action interludes save en film over many of its smaller weaknesses. And the ending at least signals the hope that, should it continue, maybe a whole new chapter in the story of Jason Bourne will finally be opened. Absolutely worth seeing with a few minor drawbacks

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp