Bourne is Back - But Not As You Know Him

There are very few sequels/trilogies/quadrilogies where I can honestly say that I enjoy every single film from the collection and don't have any niggles with certain aspects of how they've carried the story, etc. The Bourne films are a great example of this.

Although I would love to find the time to, I very rarely read the books that many of my favourite or most enjoyed films have stemmed from and nor do I usually get round to reading them after I've watched them, with the very odd exception. I've been told by a number of people that the Bourne collection is one of the best in terms of books but I can only say what I know and therefore declare that I think it is one of the best film series that has come out in a long time.


Matt Damon played the part of Jason Bourne superbly and the great combination of his acting skills, physical ability and the lack of over the top-ness that can often come with films of this genre made for each and every film to not only be great, but get better as the story continued. One of the things I liked the most about the Bourne films is that unlike other spy films, the action you see is almost believable. Unlike earlier types of spy films (for example Mission Impossible), everything that Bourne does is not far fetched. This is something which we have seen mirrored in other modern spy films, for example James Bond's Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Everyone has their own preference in terms of who is the best Bond, but what is great about Daniel Craig's portrayal is it's real, it's gritty and when Bond is getting the crap kicked out of him, it's clear to see and it takes a bit more than a quick re-do of his hair for others to not notice that he's been through the ringer.


When I heard that a new Bourne film was in the pipeline, I was a bit confused as we saw in the final Bourne film, 2007's Bourne Ultimatum, Bourne, or rather, David Webb, discovered his real identity and how he had become the machine we saw on screen. So, you can understand my confusion as to where the character had to go next. Alas, I was wrong.

To be released in the UK in August, The Bourne Legacy focuses on a new character, Aaron Cross, played by the brilliant Jeremy Renner. Also starring Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton (already I'm excited based on this fantastic cast), the new spin will suffer a similar dilemma to Damon's Bourne. Not much else has been released in terms of the storyline other than the trailer so for now, sit back, relax and get ready for the new breed of Bourne...