I recently bought the first two Jason Bourne films on DVD since I hadn't seen them before. Well, now I've watched all three, and I have to agree with the hype. This is one excellent series. The first film, The Bourne Identity directed by Doug Liman (Swingers), is a solid espionage thriller. It is simple, elegant, and loads of fun. The second in the series, The Bourne Supremacy directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93), is also simple and elegant, but while the first film brought a sense of fun to the espionage thriller in the vein of James Bond, the second brought a sense of pathos and grittiness.
Both are great films, since the stories (from Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne book series) are excellent, but they are strikingly different. In fact, I was slightly disappointed to see that much of what I loved about the first film- Bourne's confidence stemming from the discovery of his latent superspy powers - was sadly missing from the second film, though Greengrass did bring a sense of seriousness that really helped make the government side of things look more intimidating and, when it had to be, more menacing. The shakycam style of his films was also a bit distracting, bringing just about as much to the piece as it took away, but admittedly, the action scenes (especially car chases) were brought to a much higher level. This brings us to the third Bourne film, directed by Greengrass, and it looks like both he and the rest of the crew have been doing their homework. Now, with the massive critical success of United 93 behind him, Greengrass brings back a real sense of confidence to his shaky style, and the results are amazing.
Everything I loved about the first film - the clever against all odds matches that pit the truth seeker Bourne against a morally-confused-but-highly-effective Black Ops program are back in full glory (where it was waning a bit in Supremacy), and now they're bolstered with the hard-edged action that Greengrass already brought to the series, which is in turn backed up by the confidence in style and purpose that is evident in United 93. The excellent soundtrack by John Powell also does a lot to provide energy, building off the themes he created in the first two films. Storywise, the script is solid, and for those of you who remember everything that happened in the preceding installments, the material is gold. Like a beautiful poem, the writers have brought the series right back to the beginning, using moments from the past films to bring emotional resonance to this film's climax, while also cementing Jason Bourne's legacy, or what he represents to the people who enjoy his adventures.
All in all, the entire trilogy is a marvelous piece of work, and I encourage all storytellers to check out the Bourne films. By never giving the audience more than they need, and always giving just slightly more than enough, this crew has delivered a finely-balanced series that effectively delivers the goods.
