JASON BOURNE FRANCHISE (2002, 2004, 2007, 2012, 2017) - FAVORITE ACTION MOVIES

BOURNE IDENTITY (2002) 

Rated PG-13 - Rotten Tomatoes freshness score 84%, Popcornmeter 93%, IMDB rating 7.8/10

BOURNE SUPREMACY (2004)

Rated PG-13 - Rotten Tomatoes freshness score 81%, Popcornmeter 90%, IMDB rating 7.7/10

BOURNE ULTIMATUM (2007)

Rated PG-13 - Rotten Tomatoes freshness score 92%, Popcornmeter 91%, IMDB rating 8.0/10

BOURNE LEGACY (2012)

Rated PG-13 - Rotten Tomatoes freshness score 56%, Popcornmeter 58%, IMDB rating 6.6/10

JASON BOURNE (2017)

Rated PG-13 - Rotten Tomatoes freshness score 55%, Popcornmeter 55%, IMDB rating 7.7/10

Synopsis Bourne Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum and Jason Bourne:

These four movies all contribute to the same character and story arc.  In these four movies, David Webb, a former foreign service and military officer volunteers for a CIA deep cover black ops program during which he experiences intensive training and behavioral modification, and becomes Jason Bourne.  During an early mission, Bourne fails to complete a mission, is shot and falls overboard.  Bourne is rescued by fishermen, but he has no idea who he was or why he was in the water.  Over this 4-movie series, Bourne struggles to discover who he is.  In the meantime, he uses his training to avoid capture/assassination by the CIA.  They want him dead because they believe that he has become a rogue agent with the ability to cause irreparable damage to The Agency.  As Bourne slowly recovers his memory, his new mission is to find the people who changed him and to end them and the programs they run. 

Synopsis Bourne Legacy:

This is a stand alone movie that is part of the Bourne franchise that takes place at the same time as The Bourne Ultimatum.  Because of the potential for information leaks and their risk to The Agency, the CIA opts to burn the entire deep cover program to the ground that started with Jason Bourne.  By this time there are many agents spread around the world, many of whom are embedded as deep-cover operatives.  The agency manages to kill all of the agents, but one.  He goes on the run, seeking for program medications that he needs to avoid mental and physical degradation.    

Thoughts:

There have been some pretty impressive action franchises that overlap with the Bourne Franchise: Mission Impossible, James Bond, etc.  However, IMO, the Bourne Franchise is, to me, the cream of the crop.  It doesn't follow the same sort of secret agent storyline as the others, because the entire time Bourne is pursued by his former agency, while all he wants to do is to live a life of peace.  Matt Damon makes a fantastic Bourne.  And, IMO, Jeremy Renner makes a great agent as well.  Plus, everything that Bourne does, he does (largely) solo, without the assistance of a supporting team or agency.