Jason Bourne

Treadstone – The Cicada Protocol / The Kwon Conspiracy

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Treadstone – The Cicada Protocol / The Kwon Conspiracy
  • IMDb: link
  • IMDb: link

Treadstone - The Cicada Protocol / The Kwon Conspiracy TV review

USA Network’s new series breathes some new live into the Jason Bourne series with a TV series that acts both as a prequel and sequel to the events of the films starring Matt Damon as a highly-skilled assassin trained by a secret government program known as Treadstone. The events in the present revolve around sleeper Treadstone agents being reactivated by an unknown organization. These include Alaskan oil rigger Doug McKenna (Brian J. Smith) and North Korean music teacher SoYun Pak (Hyo-Joo Han). The events in the past follow CIA Agent J. Randolf Bentley (Jeremy Irvine) who escaped a KGB lab where a mad scientist planned to make him the first super-spy. The two storylines are joined in the present by a North Korean defector, a disgraced former journalist (Tracy Ifeachor), and the female agent (played by both Emilia Schüle and Gabrielle Scharnitzky) who lost Bentley years ago and is now babysitting a nuclear missile for Mother Russia.

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The Bourne Legacy

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Bourne Legacy
  • IMDB: link

the-bourne-legacy-poster"It’s interesting to note that the further we go into the Jason Bourne movie series the further and further we get from writer Robert Ludlum‘s original creation. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as the movies have been entertaining, but although there’s certainly a lot to like about the latest entry into the franchise that swaps Jeremy Renner for Matt Damon, it’s no doubt the weakest movie delivered so far.

The Bourne Legacy spends an awfully long time (most of the film’s first half-hour) trying to make the film’s events fit into the storylines of the second and third Bourne films. That means we start out when a surprising amount of exposition and a barrage of quick cuts (seriously, at times this movie feels like it was edited by George Lucas on speed). The result is far from as seamless as I’d like. This also means we have to wait quite a long time to see Renner in action (unless you count the clips where he’s channeling Liam Neeson‘s character from The Grey).

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Bourne to be on DVD

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Bourne Ultimatum
  • IMDB: link

bourne-ultimatumJason Bourne (Matt Damon) returns for a third entry picking up right where The Bourne Supremacy ended.  Bourne gets himself out of Russia and goes after those responsible for Treadstone looking for answers and revenge for Marie’s (Franka Potente) death.  The film is filled with amazing stunts, and yet another great car chase, this time through the streets of New York City.  For more on the plot and review of the film check out my original review.

I liked, but was slightly disappointed with, The Bourne Ultimatum as I feel it was a small step backward from the second film.  Still, it’s a fun ride and with the extras offered here it’s an easy recommendation to make and a nice addition to anyone’s collection.  Also worth noting, if you don’t already have the first two films in the series, Universal is putting out “The Jason Bourne Collection” – a four-disc set filled with all the extras, complete with a Jason Bourne passport, and housed in a safety deposit box tin.

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Bourne Again

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Bourne Ultimatum
  • IMDb: link

“I remember…I remember everything.”

bourne-ultimatum-poster

When I heard the words above in the trailer chills went up my spine.  I enjoyed The Bourne Identity (read December’s review) but I was blown away by the second installment The Bourne Supremacy.  So here was the sequel I was waiting for all summer.  The result was a good, though slightly disappointing, film that is still better than most of the sequels this year.

We begin, seconds after Jason Bourne’s (Matt Damon) survival in the tunnel, with his escape from Russian police.  The final scene from The Bourne Supremacy, the phone conversation between Bourne and Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) is later expertly woven into the main plot of this film.  From there we move to the shadowy government forces still attempting to track Bourne down and hide the dirty secrets which are locked in his brain.  Both Allen and Julia Stiles return, and although Stiles is given a larger (and somewhat continuity-questionable) role, Allen is demoted into the lone good guy in a room full of snakes who will do whatever it takes to keep their dirty little secrets hidden.

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Bourne Strikes Back

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Bourne Supremacy
  • IMDB: link

He warned them to stay away, now they will pay.

bourne-supremacy-dvdPart 2 of the “Bourne Trilogy”, Bourne Supremacy, brings us to Marie and Jason hiding out under new identities. Jason is having regular nightmares and keeps a journal under Marie’s tutorage to find out whom he is and what happened in his past that got him where he is at now. He is finished with being a CIA assassin and had warned the agency’s flunkies to not come after him or they would be sorry.

Guess who shows up at his front door, that’s right an assassin coming to frame him for a whole new conspiracy. In the mix of running and trying to elude the murderer, Marie is killed and Jason heads out on a vow of vengeance. Stopping every ruined and corrupt CIA operative and those who follow, Jason ducks in and out of the shadows and attacks like a stealthy predator. While on his revenge trip, he keeps up with the dreams and remembering his past, coming to realize some truth to what had happened, he confront his demons. Never finding out till the end what his true name is, Jason is still in disbelief if it’s the truth.

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