JASON BOURNE (C+)

The Bourne Complacency.  As an avid fan of the original trilogy, color me supremely unimpressed at this nine-years-later dive back in to the memory loss mania of one Jason Bourne.  This time out, we’re pummeled with a newly-tangled web of globe-hopping, politically-charged, cyber-conspiratorial shenanigans.  And although the film boasts a bit of as-expected action and cat-and-mouse urgency, the mission at hand is convoluted and tedious only for the sake – it would appear – of being convoluted and tedious.  Aside from solid turns from Damon, Jones, Vikander and crew, there’s no emotional or intriguing point to jump in and effortlessly enjoy the ride.  This is a fairly uninspired spoon-fed throwback to better days of yore.  Rest assured, there’s plenty of running, walking, punching, running, typing, walking, falling, running, kicking, walking, typing, walking, running and so on – but it’s lost at the cost of a compelling story or a single reason to care.  Ironically, for a series known for spectacular car chase sequences, the ‘show stopper’ here feels forced and gratuitous, as if director Paul Greengrass checked his watch at the one-hour forty-minute mark and said, ‘Oh shit. We need a car chase in here before this thing ends’.  They got their car chase, but it’s a loudly monotonous, dulled-down, spacially-confined, mad dash experience – nothing more.  Although it plays like a meandering greatest hits album (with its fair share of misses), this latest Bourne installment will still sporadically entertain – it’s not the embarrassingly mismanaged spy spectacle that was last year’s Spectre (James Bond).  The drop in this JB’s quality, however, will leave you both shaken, stirred and hoping for a mild dose of amnesia to set it in quick.

Starring: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander and Julia Stiles

Directed by: Paul Greengrass

Rated: PG-13

Running time: 2hrs. 3mins.

Story: Years after the events of The Bourne Ultimatum, former CIA assassin Jason Bourne resurfaces just as his former employers are implementing a new program aimed at hunting him down.

Website: www.jasonbournemovie.com