Jason Bourne (Rhoades)

Front Row at the Movies

“Jason Bourne” Comes Up With New Idea for Damon

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

Jason Bourne is a fictional spy, a CIA assassin suffering from memory loss. Troubled by hints of his past, he is driven to figure out exactly who he is.

Created by author Robert Ludlum, Jason Bourne appeared in three of his novels and nine more by successor Eric Van Lustbader. That has led to five action films, counting the eponymous “Jason Bourne” which is now playing at Tropic Cinema.

Matt Damon (“The Martian,” “The Departed”) starred in all but the fourth film in the series. Jeremy Renner stepped in for that one, playing a fellow spy.

After the third film Damon had stated that he would not do another Bourne film without Paul Greengrass as director. Damon had worked with him on the second and third Bourne film, as well as ”Green Zone.”

Damon said, “I think in terms of another one, the story of this guy’s search for his identity is over, because he’s got all the answers, so there’s no way we can trot out the same character, and so much of what makes him interesting is that internal struggle that was happening for him, am I a good guy, am I a bad guy, what is the secret behind my identity, what am I blocking out, why am I remembering these disturbing images? So all of that internal propulsive mechanism that drives the character is not there, so if there was to be another one then it would have to be a complete reconfiguration, you know, where do you go from there? For me I kind of feel like the story that we set out to tell is has now been told.”

But he hedged his bets. “I love the character, and 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 if there was a great idea behind it.”

You guessed it, Greengrass returned to direct “Jason Bourne.” Apparently, he and screenwriter Christopher Rouse came up with that great new idea.

In addition to Matt Damon, Julia Styles is returning to play Nicky Parsons, the character she did in the first three films. Alicia Vikander signed on as a CIA agent, with Tommy Lee Jones joining the team as the CIA Director. Vincent Cassel took the role of an assassin who is stalking Bourne.

In this one, Bourne resurfaces just as a new program has been created to hunt him down. But there are still things to learn about his past.

Jason Bourne: “I know who I am. I remember everything.”

Nicky: “Remembering everything doesn’t mean you know everything.”

There you go, the new idea is the same as the old idea.

But we love seeing Damon bash heads with baddies as his signature spy, Jason Bourne.

srhoades@aol.com