After waiting nine years since his last outing, action fans have been wetting their pants in anticipation since they heard the news that Matt Damon would be returning to the Bourne franchise, along with The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass for the series’s fifth installment Jason Bourne.
As you can imagine we here at Crave HQ have also been getting pretty sweaty (and pants-wetty) over it too, loving, as we do, anything that has plenty of guns, car chases and globetrotting locations… not to mention Matt Damon’s dreamy good looks.
Plus with Damon himself teasing the film as having some of the most remarkable moments in the franchise, and the trailer managing to cram in as much action as most other films manage in their entire runtime, it’s not like we have any lack of stimulus to get us excited. Still we can’t just be getting in with our jobs while we repress all these emotions (my lord the high octane action feels we are feeling) and so we decided to channel all this into something constructive as we go through The 5 Best Bourne Franchise Action Sequences Ranked From Great To Greatest… brought to you by Jason Bourne, in cinemas Thursday 28th July.
Aaron Cross’ Motorcycle Chase Through Manila In The Bourne Legacy
Let’s not mince words, the Jeremy Renner led Bourne spin-off The Bourne Legacy is the weakest entry in the franchise, although that really says more about the quality of the other films than taking away from this one. Still, despite not exactly living up to the pedigree set by the Mat Damon trilogy, Renner’s Aaron Cross still had his share of awesome action sequences, with the motorcycle chase through Manila at the climax of the film being the standout.
Chased by another supplement powered assassin through the sprawling Philippine capital, weaving through streets, rooftops and pretty much anywhere you can take a dirt bike, the only thing that could make it any better is more of it. Mind you with rumours abounding that Renner’s Cross will return in his own sequel after Damon’s return as Bourne, we might just get what we wish for.
Bourne Escapes The US Embassy In The Bourne Identity
Pretty much the first time we really see what he is capable of in the franchise, this scene is kind of a template of what we expect from a Bourne film now. Kickass martial arts, Bourne thinking ahead and outwitting his pursuers (using a radio to listen in avoid the Marines who are after him) while the odds stacked perilously against him (did I mention he is unarmed while the Marines have goddamn assault rifles) and, my favourite, mutha-fuckin parkour yo.
After running all the way to the top of the embassy, Bourne has nowhere left to go but down, and has to free-climb his way down the building. While this element of the character would really come to fruition in the later installment (especially his balcony hopping chase through Tangiers in The Bourne Ultimatum), this is the first time we see his Spiderman-esque climbing skills, and it’s awesome.
Bourne and Kirrill’s Car Chase Through Moscow In The Bourne Supremacy
Car chases are a big part of the Bourne franchise, and few in the series are as sprawling and destructive as Bourne and corrupt Russian secret service agent Kirill’s chase through Moscow at the end of The Bourne Supremacy. With Bourne making due with a yellow cab (he never get’s a nice car to ruin in these movies) while Kirill get a swanky Mercedes G-Wagon, our hero is on the back foot for the most of the chase, also having been shot in the shoulder before commandeering the taxi.
Still in classic Bourne style, the underdog comes good in the end, shooting out one of Kirill’s tyres as the Russian agent has him pinned against the wall of a tunnel, then jack-knifing the SUV into a concrete pillar.
Jason Bourne Guiding The Journo Through Waterloo Station In The Bourne Ultimatum
Now this one makes the list not because it’s the most exciting, but because it’s possibly the most controlled and surgical we ever see Jason Bourne in the franchise. In London looking for the journalist who published an article telling his story and outing operation Treadstone (you know the program to enhance agents like Bourne and then set them loose on the world) and its successor Blackbriar (who essentially try and solve the problem of covering up a program of extra-judicial super assassins with more extra-judicial super-assassins) Bourne catches up with him at London’s Waterloo train station just as the team of Blackbriar assassins are zeroing in.
Cue Bourne being a total super spy bad ass, dropping the journo a burner phone and then directing him on how to avoid capture, and taking out the operatives like a boss. What makes this scene so great though is how it not only shows us how bad ass Bourne is, single-handedly taking down a team of killers, but also how ruthless Blackbriar is willing to be to save their own skins. Also ending with Bourne blundering by failing to spot a sniper targeting the journo until it’s too late it also reminds us he’s not perfect, and by no means untouchable, which raises the stakes and keeps us interested in the action for the rest of the movie. Because let’s face it, by this point in the franchise we needed reminding of that.
The Mini Car Chase Through Paris In The Bourne Identity
This one is a fan favourite, and much like the US Embassy scene is very much a template that would become a cornerstone of the franchise – the batshit crazy chase scene. After taking out a would-be assassin with a pen (more on Bourne’s insane ability to use household items to kill people in another article) only to have him throw himself out a window, Bourne finds himself on the run in Paris with nothing but an old school Mini Cooper to get away in (not every spy gets to destroy a high performance sports car every time they go out on a mission *ahem* 007 *ahem*). Not letting that hold him back, what follows is one of the most exciting car chases ever captured on film with Bourne taking the tiny car where others can’t or won’t go i.e. down stairs, up sidewalks and of course into oncoming traffic.
Jason Bourne is in cinemas Thursday 28th July. Catch up on the past movies by grabbing them here.
