FRANCHISE RANKING: The "BOURNE" Movies
Below is my ranking of the five movies in the "BOURNE" movie franchise that starred Matt Damon as Jason Bourne and Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross:
FRANCHISE RANKING: THE "BOURNE" MOVIES
1. "The Bourne Legacy" (2012) - A CIA assassin and a government scientist from the Outcome Program are on the run from the U.S. government, due to the consequences from 2007's "The Bourne Ultimatum". Written and directed by Tony Gilroy, this vastly underrated movie starred Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz. Not only is this my favorite film in the franchise, I also personally consider it to be the best.
2. "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004) - This movie introduced director Paul Greengrass to the Bourne franchise. Yes, the shaky-cam photography was introduced in this film. But I am willing to overlook it, due to the story’s tight and well-written story that raised the emotion to a level that made this film an absolute gem for me. It also featured - in my opinion - two of the most emotionally satisfying scenes in the entire franchise.
3. "The Bourne Identity" (2002) - The only one directed by Doug Liman, this movie is probably the closest adaptation of any of Robert Ludlum’s Bourne novels. And it also featured one of the best action sequences near the end of the film. However, three-fourths into the story, the movie’s pacing threatened to bog down and nearly put me to sleep. But it is still a great introduction to the cinematic Bourne saga. Matt Damon and Franke Potente starred.
4. "The Bourne Ultimatum" (2007) - Directed by Paul Greengrass, this movie is now considered to be the best within the Bourne franchise. Do not get me wrong. I enjoyed it very much. But the movie had obvious plot holes that made me regard it in a lesser light than the previous three movies on this list. And the shaky-cam photography seemed to be at its worse. Still, it is pretty damn good. Matt Damon, Joan Allen, David Strathairn and Julia Stiles starred.
5. "Jason Bourne" (2016) - Matt Damon, Julia Stiles and Paul Greengrass re-teamed for this rather shaky and unoriginal fifth installment of the Bourne movie franchise in which the former amnesiac CIA assassin is drawn out of hiding when fellow fugitive Nicky Parsons discovers a secret from his past. Alicia Vikander and Tommy Lee Jones co-starred.