Jason Bourne (2016): A Snippet Film Review

As a massive fan of the James Bond franchise, I have always seen Jason Bourne as the perfect antidote to the 007 hiatuses. We’ve had imaginative titles, courtesy of Robert Ludlum, such as The Bourne Identity; The Bourne Supremacy; and The Bourne Ultimatum – each chapter with a similar plot, an ex-CIA operative with severe memory loss trying to rediscover his past and seek revenge for those who manipulated him. However, after the series’ own hiatus, and after the disappointing spin-off chapter, The Bourne Legacy, with Jeremy Renner, which, for all intents and purposes, may as well disappear, comes the unimaginatively titled re-boot, Jason Bourne. This film teams Matt Damon (Bourne) with director, Paul Greengrass, a collaboration which lasted through Supremacy and Ultimatum. So, then, a tried and tested recipe for success? No. This really is Groundhog day. Trying to remember anything really distinctive or eye-opening about this film is a challenge. I was led to think that I was the amnesiac, not Jason Bourne. The only recurrence in the film that I welcomed was the incredibly catchy Bourne theme over the end titles, Extreme Ways, by Moby, which never gets old. Perhaps the film could have redeemed itself with its high-octane car chase on the Las Vegas strip, but the editing was so fast that the sequence was more headache-inducing than visually satisfying.

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Robert Vaughn (1932-2016)

Robert Vaughn, the charismatic, Hollywood actor, who enjoyed film and television fame for more than half a century sadly passed away last year at the age of 83, after losing his battle with leukaemia. Younger viewers will perhaps know Vaughn as the sophisticated veteran con-man, Albert, from the BBC T.V. series, Hustle – this was a rare case of an American star, with an interesting and varied repertoire, blending humbly into a fairly modest British T.V. drama. More curious is that a few years ago, he ventured onto the cobbles of Coronation Street!

That said, these were not Vaughn’s first brushes with British television – in the 1970s he starred as one of three freelance crime-fighters in the series, The Protectors, which enjoyed a brief, but notable, reception.

For die-hard fans, however, Vaughn will be best remembered for the role of Napoleon Solo, the secret agent working alongside his colleague Ilya Kuryakin (David McCallum) for the spy organisation, U.N.C.L.E (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement) in the highly-acclaimed American T.V. series, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.). Such is the series’ fame that, last year, some fifty years after the final episode, Guy Ritchie created an U.N.C.L.E. feature film based on the original concept, with Henry Cavill, and maintained the same sense of 1960s fashions and male witticisms.

Film credits to Vaughn’s name are the classic Western, The Magnificent Seven, as well as Bullitt; Superman III; and The Towering Inferno, to name but a few. He was a unique talent, with a unique story – he never had to wait on tables to earn a living or drive a taxi before his acting career got off the ground, which is the case with many. He was drafted into television less than two months after graduating from college, and his career went onwards and upwards from there. He even became an active voice in politics in the late 60s and spoke out against the Vietnam War.

Vaughn’s 2009 autobiography was called “A Fortunate Life”, a title which couldn’t have been more appropriate. He is survived by his wife, Linda, and two children, Cassidy and Caitlin Vaughn. The last surviving member of “The Magnificent Seven” rides into the sky…..

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