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The Bourne franchise redefined the spy thriller genre — combining gritty realism, masterful fight choreography, and a relentless sense of pace. The Bourne Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum created one of the greatest action trilogies of all time, making Matt Damon a global icon. But after the original creative team disbanded, The Bourne Legacy and later Jason Bourne struggled to recapture the magic. Which almost completely ruining the legacy of the original trilogy.
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Jesus Christ, that's Jason Bourne
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When it comes to action heroes, few characters broke more ground than Jason Bourne
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With gritty fight scenes and seriously complicated espionage, the Bourne identity shaped modern action films as we know them
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Brought to life by actor Matt Damon and a core group of filmmakers, the ensuing sequels are among the best action follow-ups of all time
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But after Damon stepped away from his own franchise, the film series struggled
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and when Bourne bounced back for one final round, audiences felt the overblown franchise had forgotten them
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Still trying to figure out if you're supposed to kill me or give me a pep talk. After being postponed from a September 2001 debut
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the Bourne identity underwent considerable changes and reshoots for a post-9-11 audience
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Director Doug Liman was said to have clashed with the studio over these last-minute updates
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and leading up to its release, insiders and industry execs assumed the fledgling action film was a bust
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backed by fears of a cultural reluctance toward violence and general malaise in regards to Matt
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Damon's career, basically nobody was betting on Bourne. But when The Bourne Identity was finally
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released the following summer, the film felt like a breath of fresh air for just about everyone
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With elevated, stoic storytelling, the first Bourne film set itself apart from other action
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movies of its era. Following the journey of amnesia-ridden operative Jason Bourne
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The Bourne Identity begins with a man adrift in a sea of mystery and personal trials. Unlike the
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smarmy camp of Bond films at the time, and even Damon's own Ocean's Eleven, the Bourne identity
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brought some serious espionage. Violent, relentless hitmen, double-crossing government agents, deep state secrets, and hardly a single gag or joke in sight. But as joyless as screenwriter
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Tony Gilroy's script may have seemed on paper, when put to work, Jason Bourne was anything but
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boring. As he tears through a trio of vicious mercenaries, unrattles the secrets of his past
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and goes toe-to-toe with CIA handlers, Bourne unearths his identity through brutal combat and thrilling chase sequences
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Paired with one of the most tense and badass film scores of any action film
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the stark adventures of Jason Bourne felt instantly classic. Breaking away from the traditional, often static cinematography of Western action films
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director Doug Liman interspersed fight choreography with quick cuts and shaky cam techniques to startling effect
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With its clear-cut stunt work and an entirely new way of filming frenetic fight scenes
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the Bourne Identity rebranded Matt Damon as a full action superstar basically overnight Both a critically acclaimed dramatic actor and an award screenwriter Damon had already touched the hearts with the critically renowned classic Good Will Hunting
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And even as he continued to chill audiences with performances in dramas like Saving Private Ryan
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and The Talented Mr. Ripley, moviegoers simultaneously discovered his penchant for comedic roles in Kevin Smith films
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such as Chasing Amy or Dogma. Thankfully, the unconventional careers of Bruce Willis and George Clooney
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walked so that Matt Damon could run. And when audiences got their first glimpse of Jason Bourne in motion
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any doubts about his action hero abilities were fully wiped from memory
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Because when you take dramatically trained actors known for inhabiting characters and you pair them with action-packed violence
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well, you might just get something incredible. Following up their action blockbuster with the Bourne Supremacy
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studio heads opted to leave director Doug Liman behind. Hoping to avoid future clashes over reshoots
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up-and-coming English director Paul Greengrass was brought in to take over. With a fresh script from returning writer Tony Gilroy
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The Bourne Supremacy was released in 2004 to near-unanimous praise. An obvious box office smash and surprise critical darling
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The Bourne Supremacy maintains the serious tone and bombastic action of its predecessor
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With basically every surviving character returning for round two, the sequel felt earned in a way few action follow-ups ever can
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As Bourne beats or outright strangles his ops and claustrophobia-inducing close-quarter brawls
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the punches somehow hit harder, and the plot just gets thicker. Though director Paul Greengrass maintained pace and kept Bourne moving, audiences noticed less favorable developments
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Plastered with a dialed-up color palette that would make a British neo-noir blush
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the Bourne supremacy has a distinctive, if somewhat unsavory look. And although original Bourne director Doug Liman initiated the shaky cam signature
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Greengrass took things to a new level. Once peppered lightly throughout the proceedings, nauseating shaky cam shots littered this otherwise fascinating film
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Though an inventive form of action filmmaking, this so-called queasy cam style quickly lost its charm
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And while The Bourne Supremacy looks far better than the majority of action romps that followed in its unsteady footsteps
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pervasive usage of the shaky cam still makes for a frustrating rewatch
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Although The Bourne Supremacy was an action miracle in its own right, the true revelation was still to come
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because when director Paul Greengrass returned with a script from trusty Tony Gilroy
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most assumed the third Bourne entry might simply maintain the status quo
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Fortunately for fans of the first two films, The Bourne Ultimatum was so much more than just Bourne number three With all the familiar stony faces we come to love and a score that dials up any previous efforts to 11 the Bourne ultimatum is the action spy thriller
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of our wildest fever dreams. Because even though the latest Bond film
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had clearly been dipping into someone else's stylistic turf, this threequel proved that nobody does it like Bourne
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Despite more shaky cam shots, director Paul Greengrass dispelled his detractors with, for lack of a better term
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a tighter grip on his own style. Utilizing brighter, more effective color palettes
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the Bourne ultimatum still looks incredibly modern today. An obvious predecessor for the cinematography would go on to prevail
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in everything from John Wick films to Aaron Sorkin projects. The aesthetic style of Ultimatum is as prescient as those earth-shattering fight scenes
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After amassing a box office return that shook the industry and a critical response completely uncharacteristic of a third entry in an action franchise
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Jason Bourne could have rested on his laurels as the herald of a near-perfect trilogy
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For his part, director Paul Greengrass announced that he would not take part in a fourth film
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And Matt Damon, with Bourne-esque loyalty to the director, said that it was a no-go without Greengrass
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And in a just world, things may have ended at that. But in Hollywood, our biggest and brightest heroes can never truly die
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Unfortunately for Bourne fans, that could only mean one thing, the dreaded legacy sequel
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Taking the term literally, the Bourne legacy was, in fact, devoid of both Damon's Bourne and Paul Greengrass
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Assuming the director's chair, however, was returning writer Tony Gilroy. As the stalwart narrative visionary behind the preceding films
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it was hoped that if anyone could keep the franchise on track, it was Gilroy
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And after the back-to-back successes of his turn in The Avengers and Mission Impossible films
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new star Jeremy Renner seemed like a perfect actor to usurp the throne
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But straight away, fans of the franchise knew that something was amiss
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Although the shaky cam stylings of previous Bourne entries have cooled off to a dull simmer
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and despite the outward appearance of precise, well-lit cinematography, The Bourne Legacy is the first film in the franchise that felt outdated immediately upon release
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Looking more like a sampling of so-called prestige streaming TV than a blockbuster installment
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Legacy cheapens the vibe with plastic filmmaking and low effort. And for all his charm and history with big-budget films
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Jeremy Renner just can't quite cut it as the Bourne heir apparent. To Renner's credit, it's hard to believe just about anyone could have lived up to what Damon started
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When settling for future A-listers, it feels like studios missed the spirit of director
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Doug Liman's original casting decision. Damon wasn the clear choice Renner was and perhaps that the entire problem in a nutshell By trying to make a perfectly packaged action sequel the filmmakers crafted just another run direct action movie
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albeit one that played to every major movie theater and carried the torch of one of the genre's most enduring names
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When Legacy failed to launch the films into more unknown territory, the studio decided a return to form was in order
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But after securing the return of director Paul Greengrass and star Matt Damon for the elegantly titled Jason Bourne in 2016
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there was only one thing missing. Although he had served as the screenwriter for all four films thus far
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Tony Gilroy declined to return to the franchise for a fifth film outing
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after his brief turn as director. With Greengrass making up the difference in dual roles as writer and director
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there was still hope for reclaiming our memories of a better Bourne. Perhaps proving his utmost importance as a cog in the Bourne machine
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Tony Gilroy's absence from Jason Bourne hits like a bare knuckle punch
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Serving as more of a shaky cam-laden disaster piece than the intended resurrection of one of action film's greatest stars
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Jason Bourne is a complete waste of talent. Like the filmmakers themselves have suffered a bout of amnesia, the fifth entry retreads old ground in every possible way
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With the oversaturated visuals of supremacy, the overly familiar plots of Ultimatum, and the showy yet hollow performances of Legacy
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Jason Bourne somehow takes all the worst parts of a remarkable franchise and smashes them together like a kid's puzzle set
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Like so many attempted franchise resurrections before them, the filmmakers behind Jason Bourne fell into the same pit trap of repeating story cycles
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poor narrative decisions, and stakes that fall completely flat. After being forced to watch Renner square off with a literal pack of wolves
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Damon's stunted bare-knuckle return to the role was even more devastating to witness
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As more and more shaky cam quick-cut action films have come and gone without a trace
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Legacy of Bourne still might have come away unscathed if not for these final films
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All important pieces of art obtain both poor and powerful imitators, but by churning out an unnecessary legacy sequel and an even less desirable fifth entry, the Bourne legacy and Jason Bourne tarnish the franchise of Bourne altogether
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And without these shoddy bookends, the original trilogy might be thought of as some of the best action movies ever made
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Saddled with the existence of lesser entries, Bourne instead may be best remembered as those shaky cam spy movies
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And for a character who can't remember his past, that just might be the most painful possibility of all
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Because when Born first began, it seemed like the potential for greatness was truly endless