Mutant Reviewers from Hell do
"Someone started all this, and I'm going to find them."

2007 PG-13 / Spy Thriller Directed by: Paul Greengrass Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Joan Allen

Tagline

This Summer Jason Bourne Comes Home

Summary Capsule

Jason Bourne takes on the CIA in a bid to confront the people who have hunted him for three years. Car chases, explosions and broken femurs ensue.

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Mike's Rating: I am not currently at liberty to divluge this rating as it might compromise our agents in the field.
Mike's Review: There's a lot to like, and a bit to dislike in this latest Bourne sequel. Matt Damon has really grown into the role, and it's cool to watch an actor with some actual depth develop an action-based hero. The ongoing story of all three movies, when viewed as a whole, is surprisingly cohesive considering how far they strayed from the source material. Also surprising is how the movie veers further into poignant territory than any action movie has buisiness doing. The plot may have been dumbed down a little bit and some moments were just carbon-copied from the last movie, but there are also some seriously cool twists, particularly if you've seen the previous films. The action is only middle of the road, which is still better than the action in say... a Jane Austen novel.

"The action is only middle of the road, which is still better than the action in say... a Jane Austen novel."

However, none of this matters, because Jason Bourne is the coolest spy in the universe.

This third part in the "Bourne Trilogy" finds J.B. outsmarting everyone in the world, as he re-traces his steps and follows what's left of his memory to get to where it all started for him: the beginning of Treadstone, the shady black ops nasties he used to work for. The end result is spooks galore as Bourne is hunted by assassins, good C.I.A. agents, bad C.I.A. agents, and the guy from Big Fish. As easy as the plot is to swallow and as good as the performances are, the real fun here is watching Bourne just being slick, driving, fighting, shooting, or just playing cell phone mind games in order to evade capture. Let's be honest here — do we really care about finding out what "Blackbriar" is as much as we care about when Bourne is going to get to brutally pwn the hitmen out to ice him? Yeah that's what I thought.

Not that the plot is completely barren. The ongoing antagonistic/symbiotic relationship between Bourne and Landy is nicely handled, and I like that when Nikki was brought in, the writer didn't succumb to the temptation to make her another love interest. Joan Allen does a really great job of portraying Landy, the only honest agent in a den of vipers.

So, it's not exactly spectacular, but it does its job. For the full effect I'd recommend watching all three movies back to back and see for yourself just how well they tie together. If you're a fan of the Bourne movies, you'll enjoy this, and if you're not, you'll still have plenty splodey stuff and car crashes and guns shooting. What more do you need?

"This isn't where I parked my car." Staring contest! Don't be fooled, these two could kill you and probably already have.

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• Apparently all the government agencies are in New York, and not D.C. Who knew?
• It's official, Google can find ANYTHING.
• Ok, reporter guy, when the highly trained goverment operative tells you to stay put, DO IT!
• Those camera-guns are sweet, but have these guys heard of silencers?
• Bourne's car chases never end well.
• I like how Bourne won't kill a helpless man, even if it is an assassin.
• Is Nicky saying what I think she's saying?
• Man, those people are gonna be pissed when they get home.
• So... they were actually listening to every phone call on Earth just in case somebody said "Blackbriar"?
• How much Nicky looked like Marie in the mirror shot?
• I love Bourne's cell phone mind games.
• If you're a policeman, don't get within striking range. Seriously, you don't have a shot.

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

The credits start out animated, with some cool-looking stuff that kind of tell the story you just watched, but then it settles down a little bit and there's just cool-looking circuit pulses behind the rolling credits. Go ahead and relax, let the crowd leave. You'll get out that much quicker when you do roll out.

Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]

The differences between the movies and the books on which they are VERY loosely based is striking. I liken it to the story of my life being translated into french, re-translated into monkey, and finally coded in Cobol before being translated back into English. In the books, Jason Bourne is much older, having started as an operative in Vietnam. His real identity as David Webb was classified as MIA and so to keep himself anomynous, he took the identity of Jason Bourne, a former colleague from his Vietnam days. The books focus on Webb/Bourne and his ongoing animosity with international terrorist Carlos the Jackal.

Groovy Quotes

Dr. Albert Hirsch: (repeated line) Will you commit to this program?

Russian Policeman: Please don't kill me.
Jason Bourne: My argument is not with you.

Jason Bourne: Someone started all this, and I'm going to find them.

Jason Bourne: I can see the faces of everyone I've ever killed.

Guy on the radio: Sir, He drove off the roof.

Paz: Why didn't you take the shot?
Jason Bourne: Do you even know why you're supposed to kill me? Look at us, look at what they make you give.

Dr. Albert Hirsch: Do you remember now?
Jason Bourne: I remember...I remember eveything. I'm not Jason Bourne anymore.
Dr. Albert Hirsch: Are you going to kill me now?
Jason Bourne: You're not worth the star they'd give you at Langley.

Noah Vosen: (talking to Bourne on a cell phone) Perhaps we can arrange a meet.
Jason Bourne: Where are you now?
Noah Vosen: I'm sitting in my office.
Jason Bourne: I doubt that.
Noah Vosen: Why would you doubt that?
Jason Bourne: If you were in your office right now we'd be having this conversation face-to-face.

Pamela Landy: This is Jason Bourne, the toughest target that you have ever tracked.

Jason Bourne: Why are you helping me?
Nicky Parsons: It was... difficult for me... with you. You really don't remember anything?
Jason Bourne: No.

If you liked this movie, try these:

• The Bourne Identity
• The Bourne Supremacy
• Sneakers