Following The Bourne Ultimatum, both director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon decided that they had had their fill of the Jason Bourne character, and decided to leave the franchise to pursue other projects. After the middling Bourne Legacy, now the director and actor team are back to continue the story of their cinematic superspy, and thanks to the Super Bowl we have now learned both the film’s new title - Jason Bourne - and received the first bit of footage. Check it out!
After almost 10 years away from the big screen, Jason Bourne hasn’t skipped a beat for the fifth entry of the Bourne series. Starting with an underground fight club set up, we get snippets of the movie’s action-packed moments, including a a massive riot, Jason shooting fleeing on a motorcycle, and the eponymous protagonist ramming a SWAT van through a group of parked vehicles. Oh, and of course, plenty of taking down opponents, further demonstrating that he’s the "perfect weapon." At one point, Jason also mentions that he’s regained all of his memories. However, like Julia Stiles’ Nicky Parsons says, just because he remembers everything doesn’t mean he knows everything. We also get quick looks at players like Tommy Lee Jones’ Robert Dewey, CIA director, and Ato Essandoh’s still-unnamed character.
However, we’d be remiss if we didn’t address the movie simply being titled Jason Bourne. Evidently for the fifth installment the creative team opted not to add a fancy noun and keep it simple with just the protagonist’s name, giving Jason a common connection with fellow action characters like Jack Reacher or Jack Ryan. After The Bourne Legacy’s mixed performance in 2012, this may be a way for the filmmakers to distance themselves from the spinoff and revitalize a franchise that’s been around since 2001. Should a sixth movie be ordered, one wonders if they’ll go back to the clever nouns or keep Jason Bourne and just add a subtitle. After all, calling it Jason Bourne 2 might confuse audiences.
When we last saw Jason in The Bourne Ultimatum, he had just collapsed in New York City’s East River, but in the final seconds, audiences saw him swim away before the authorities could find him. There were a few mentions of him in The Bourne Legacy, but nothing beats reuniting with the real deal. It has yet to be revealed how Jason will be drawn back into the world of espionage and gunfire, but with all that training from Treadstone still ingrained in him, he’ll be able to deal with whatever’s thrown at him. Of course, the government also hunting him down once he surfaces will pose problems, as per usual.
Jason Bourne hits theaters on July 29.
