9 Reasons Why Bourne 5 Could Be The Best Movie In The Franchise

Since The Bourne Legacy unsuccessfully attempted to take the franchise in a new direction three years ago, the spy saga has stalled. Overly-talky, and feeling somewhat redundant with a less compelling new figure in the lead, Legacy saw critics shrug and the box office gross reach half of the previous effort: The Bourne Ultimatum. Few were left calling out for a sequel. But while the series has been waiting for someone to come along and revitalize it, it turns out the two people arguably most important to the Bourne franchise have been preparing to make a comeback all this time. They would be original star Matt Damon, and the director that made the franchise his own, Paul Greengrass. Bourne 5 will be their fourth collaboration, and their third Bourne film together, and it begins shooting this month. While it's expected that Damon and Greengrass will at least restore the franchise to its former glory with Bourne 5, there are reasons - based on the scant details presently available - to believe this could even be the best film in the series to date. Here, then, are nine reasons to expect great things from Bourne 5. 9) Universal Has Something To Prove After The Bourne Legacy While The Bourne Legacy certainly wasn't the unmitigated disaster some have labeled it as, Tony Gilroy's film is still comfortably the worst of the franchise. Despite being the most expensive film in the series, it's also the second lowest-grossing, and simply the one that's least fondly remembered. All told, Legacy was not a success for Universal. Understandably, the side-franchise that the studio was trying to create with Jeremy Renner's Aaron Cross in the lead was put on hold following Legacy's release. Now, three years down the road, Universal is going to be looking to revitalize one of its most beloved properties and get Bourne back in the blockbuster game. That Bourne 5 is getting made at all should be an indication that the studio has renewed confidence: it's unlikely Universal would want to risk two bombs in a row with another below-par sequel. And that the film is being stuffed with such talent bodes well from the off. 8) Paul Greengrass Is Returning Though he stumbled with his first film post-Bourne Ultimatum, Green Zone, Paul Greengrass is on an upward swing after Captain Phillips, a topical, down-and-dirty thriller made in the classic Greengrass style. Though Phillips proved he was still the real deal, there was still just one problem with that film: confined to a single location for most of the running time, Greengrass - naturally inclined to explore environments and rely on rapid movement - felt just a tad constrained. Bourne, with its globetrotting inclinations and methodical chase narrative, has always been the best fit for Greengrass as a filmmaker; with Bourne 5, he'll be getting back to what he does best, and undoubtedly returning fresher and with more ideas after his eight-year Bourne hiatus. After Gilroy's fairly anonymous direction on Legacy, Greengrass bringing that visceral docu-style approach back to the franchise will show the pretenders how it's done. 7) So Is Matt Damon No offence to Jeremy Renner, but the actor wasn't exactly groundbreaking in The Bourne Legacy. You could put that down to the uneven writing of the script, or the fact that Renner's Aaron Cross was basically a thinly-veiled retread of the Jason Bourne character. Regardless, Matt Damon made Bourne his own, unique creation; so the news that he's returning for Bourne 5 is a major cause for celebration. Like Greengrass and Universal, Damon may have something to prove with Bourne 5. He's spent eight years out of the spy game, only to watch a young pretender (though not literally - he and Renner are the same age) come in, and a Damon-less movie to arrive under-cooked and lacking in the qualities that made the Damon Bournes so good. The actor has only matured as a performer since The Bourne Ultimatum, stretching himself by working in all kinds of genres with all kinds of directors in the last eight years, so here's hoping he'll be his best Bourne yet in the new film. 6) Greengrass And Damon Have Been Waiting For Years To Make This One One problem with modern blockbuster filmmaking is the production line-like process through which they're made. Sequels are expected to get off the ground more and more quickly, with the aim to meet the release date whether they're ready to go or not. Some of Hollywood's biggest properties are now going into shooting without a script even being finalized. While this method of production can work, more often than not it can result in half-baked, nonsensical, or generally unsatisfying films. While The Bourne Ultimatum itself had something of a shaky production (Tony Gilroy's original script was a "career-ender," according to Damon), Bourne 5 is something that Damon and Greengrass have been patiently preparing for since they left the franchise in 2007. For the actor, it was a case of having to "wait for the world to change" before he and Greengrass could approach the character of Jason Bourne again. Now that Bourne is living in a very different world, Damon and Greengrass have apparently got a story good enough to warrant the super-spy's return. 5) Tommy Lee Jones Will Play The Main Government Official There's a nice little tradition of great, intimidating character actors playing the CIA's higher-ups in the Bourne films, and it seems Bourne 5 will be no different. As the first confirmed new cast addition, Tommy Lee Jones will follow in Chris Cooper's footsteps to be the second Oscar winner playing the man who presumably hot on Jason Bourne's tail. Or not - at the moment we know very little about the film, but Bourne was finally let off the hook at the end of Ultimatum, so there's a chance he could even be working with the government this time. All the same, Jones will be a key component of Bourne 5, stepping into the shoes of Scott Glenn to be the new main man at the CIA. It's a casting coup: as he grows older and more irascible, Tommy Lee Jones only grows as a screen presence. Prepare for growled dialogue and extra helpings of cynicism. 4) Viggo Mortensen May Play A Villain Though it's still not confirmed, back in June it was reported that Viggo Mortensen was being eyed for a Bourne 5 villain; and considering the actor has nothing else coming up in his schedule, this could still be solid casting info. If it does turn out to be true that Mortensen has been approached, and he accepts, then we could have another great Bourne villain on our hands. So far, we've had the estimable likes of Clive Owen, Karl Urban, Edgar Ramirez, and Oscar Isaac play would-be Bourne assassins, and Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, David Strathairn, and Edward Norton play the shady CIA wonks hunting him down. Considering Mortensen is closer in age to the previous government bods, it's more likely he'll play one of those - or maybe he'll take on a different type of role altogether. Whatever the case, Viggo Mortensen as a villain would do more than nicely for Bourne 5. 3) Vincent Cassel Will Play A Man Hunting Bourne While Mortensen remains unconfirmed, we do know that his Dangerous Method co-star Vincent Cassel will definitely make an appearance in Bourne 5. Though it's uncertain what exactly his allegiances will be in the movie, it's been said that Cassel will play a hitman tracking down Bourne, fulfilling one of the franchise requirements by playing Bourne 5's international bad guy. As one of France's best working actors, Cassel will be more than a match for Matt Damon. Only very few screen performers can intimidate with a stare alone, and - taking into account the previous Bourne assassins - it's likely Cassel will have only minimal dialogue to wrestle with anyway; no bad thing, considering Cassel doesn't even need words to terrify. Intensity beckons. 2) Alicia Vikander Dropped Out Of Assassin's Creed To Star It's been quite a year for Alicia Vikander. Already she's starred in five films in 2015, and is set to have another four released before the end of the year. On top of that, she's had offers coming in for some of Hollywood's biggest upcoming projects, one of them being Justin Kurzel's Assassin's Creed movie. But, hopefully more an indication of Bourne 5's promise than of Assassin's Creed lack of it, it's recently been announced that Vikander has dropped out of the latter to commit to the fifth Bourne movie. In swapping Kurzel for Greengrass, and Fassbender for Damon, Vikander takes on an as-yet-unknown role. Don't expect her to play a mere love interest as, post-Identity, that's just not been the Bourne style. Instead, we should see Vikander given one of the complex, non-romantic female roles the Bourne films do so well (see Joan Allen and Julia Stiles, who also returns for this movie). Given how talented she's shown herself to be so far, don't doubt that Vikander will nail it. 1) The Concept Sounds Like The Best And Most Politically Charged Yet If Matt Damon is one of the more politically conscious actors in Hollywood, he more than has a match in Paul Greengrass, possibly the most socio-politically astute filmmaker working in big budget cinema. Apart, they've worked on movies about fracking and big oil, and 9/11 and modern piracy, respectively; together, they tackled the Iraq War and espionage in a post-9/11 world. Now, it seems they're reteaming for the most politically charged Bourne film yet. According to Damon, the movie will cover "spying and civil liberties and the nature of democracy." Set in a "post-Snowden world" and taking place across an "austerity-riddled Europe," the film will kick off in Greece ("the beginning of democracy...") and end in the "grotesque" (Damon's words) Las Vegas. Location-wise, it sounds intriguing; thematically, however, it sounds like Bourne 5 could bear the richest fruit of the franchise. If Greengrass and Damon realize their ambitions, this could be so much more than just another chase movie.