Well, it didn’t take long for recent Oscar-winning director Edward Berger to jump into franchise filmmaking.
Berger directed “All Quiet on the Western Front” and, according to Deadline, is now set to helm the next Jason Bourne movie. Matt Damon has been approached to return as the titular hero.
There have been five Jason Bourne movies, with the first three being, far and away, the best ones — they are Doug Liman’s “The Bourne Identity,” and Paul Greengrass’ “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum.”
The last two Jason Bourne movies — 2012’s “The Bourne Legacy” and 2016’s “Jason Bourne” — have not been remembered at all. I wouldn’t be able to tell you what they were about or what the stakes were. They’ve been completely forgotten. Did we need a sixth movie in the franchise? Of course not.
As much as I loved the Greengrass-directed movies, I’m such a sucker for the less showy original, 2002’s "The Bourne Identity," which introduced movie-goers to a new type of action hero and a new, more modern style of action.
That movie was big gamechanger for the action genre. Gone were the big-budget, explosion-laden, slick, special effects extravaganzas; in was a grittier template, filled with more naturalistic action sequences. Our hero was no longer the cocky muscle-bound Arnold-type that dominated action in the ‘80s and ‘90s. He wasn’t trying to save the world, but rather, he was trying to save himself and find out who he was.
Whatever you think of those first three ‘Bourne’ movies, you can't deny the impact they’ve had on this century’s action movies. Heck, even James Bond has been dubbed "James Bourne" by many.
Liam Neeson was basically Jason Bourne in the "Taken" movies, and that template continued on with Keanu Reeves in "John Wick", Tom Cruise in "Jack Reacher," etc.
Criterion's December lineup has some great additions to the library, but the title that jumped out at me is Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," which officially joins the Collection on December 8.