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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 AUGUST 2016 38 This Week IN CINEMAS TODAY Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Ghostbusters (12A) 10:25, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 The Secret Life Of Pets (PG) 10:30, 15:55, 18:40, 20:50 Central Intelligence (12A) 10:25, 13:40, 16:10, 18:25 Now You See Me 2 (12A) 18:05, 20:55 Jason Bourne (12A) 10:15, 13:15, 15:55, 18:30, 21:10 Ice Age: Collision Course (U) 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 The Legend of Tarzan (12A) 13:30 , 16:00, 20:55 Valletta Living History (U) 10:00, 10:45, 11:30, 12:15, 13:00, 13:45, 14:30, 15:15 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 The BFG (PG) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:40 Independence Day: Resurgence (12A) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:45 Ghostbusters (12A) 14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:10, 23:40 Central Intelligence (12A) 14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:05, 23:30 Colonia (15) 14:05, 18:30, 23:00 The Legend of Tarzan (12A) 14:05, 16:30, 18:50, 21:10, 23:30 Ice Age: Collision Course (U) 14:10, 16:20, 18:25, 20:30 The Secret Life of Pets (PG) 14:15, 16:20, 18:30, 20:40 Now You See Me 2 (12A) 14:20, 18:00, 20:45, 23:25 Jason Bourne (12A) 14:25, 18:15, 20:55, 23:35 Star Trek Beyond (12A) 14:30, 18:05, 20:50, 23:30 The Conjuring 2 (15) 14:30, 17:55, 20:45, 23:30 Precious Cargo (18) 16:25, 20:55 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Star Trek Beyond (12A) 10:40, 13:15, 15:55, 18:30, 21:05 Ice Age: Collision Course (U) 11:05, 13:25, 15:45, 18:00, 20:35 The Secret Life of Pets (PG) 11:00, 13:45, 18:00 The Legend of Tarzan (12A) 15:45, 21:05 Jason Bourne (12A) 10:30, 13:05, 15:40, 18:15, 21:00 BFG (PG) 10:40, 13:15, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 Now You See Me 2 (12A) 10:20, 13:05, 15:45, 18:30, 21:15 Ghostbusters (12A) 11:00, 13:35, 16:05, 18:35, 21:05 THE latest entry in the Bourne franchise quite literally pulls out all the stops, both in front of and be- hind the camera, doing its utmost to deliver a hi-octane slice of gritty espionage action, with the help of the people who have made this ad- aptation series of the Robert Lud- lum novels such a global success. But the best intentions – to say nothing of financial incentives – may not in fact be enough to resuscitate the necessary excite- ment to justify it all as bona fide storytelling, and as returning direc- tor Paul Greengrass (who helmed the first two sequels in the series, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum) over-applies his trademark shaky-cam to nearly every shot in this installment, it all starts to look little more than a des- perate attempt at corporate brand- management. The biggest draw for audiences is another prodigal son of the series, however: Matt Damon. An attempt at continuing the series without the star behind the titular charac- ter – The Bourne Legacy (2012), in which Marvel's Hawkeye Jeremy Renner played a not-Bourne agent with a similar plight – was some- thing of a non-starter, so Para- mount Studios must have gotten a boost of self-confidence after they managed to bring Bourne back in from the cold. It's a situation that oddly mirrors the narrative of the film itself, as we see Bourne eking out a miserable existence as a drifting prize-fighter while trying to leave his past as an amnesiac CIA agent with a kill list as long as his (chiseled) arm. But he's pulled back into the game when his former friend and collab- orator Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) uncovers the next corrupt initia- tive by the Agency – spearheaded by Agency Head Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones) and his second in command Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander) and seeks out Bourne to help her expose them. But if any- thing, Bourne is more interested in what his project could reveal about his ever-mysterious past; particu- larly in his father, David Webb's (Gregg Henry) role in the opera- tion that shaped him into the kill- ing machine he is today. Meanwhile, the Agency dispatch their equally deadly 'Asset' (Vin- cent Cassel) to contain the situa- tion, while also wrangling with so- cial media mogul Aaron Kallor (Riz Ahmed), whose ready-to-launch initiative 'Deep Web' is set to revo- lutionize the online experience, at no risk to users' privacy. But this contradicts Kallor's earlier deal with the CIA, and now, Dewey is coming to collect. The post-Snowden world has become a rich new vein for the espionage thriller, with even last year's James Bond outing Spectre dedicating a sub-plot to it. But here it's a tacked-on attempt at strained relevance, made all the more pa- thetic by the memory that it was Bourne who led the trend in the early noughties, with the Brosnan- era Bond struggling to catch up. And in many ways, Greengrass's entire film is an extended exer- cise in tacked-on elements, some of which work, but most of which feel as though they're hanging on a prayer. Visually speaking, all of Greengrass's shaky-cam grittiness just about masks some really poor directorial choices – obscenely clichéd close-ups, for one thing, which would have been too much even for a soap opera – and the story (penned by Greengrass and Christopher Rouse) only has the veneer of topicality, with the char- acter beats – both for Damon and Vikander's morally ambivalent CIA operative – being so archetypal that they may as well be in Star Wars. When it works – such as a climac- tic dirty tussle, the likes of which Greengrass was last seen deliver- ing to great effect in The Bourne Supremacy – it works like a treat. But the good moments can't possi- bly compensate for the rest, which is a slog of two kinds: you're either bored by people anxiously look- ing at various computer screens, or by confusing set pieces that feel like The Blair Witch Project on the concrete floors of various Europe- an cities. On top of it all, there's not a sin- gle moment of levity in sight. Nas- ty, brutish and not so short. Was bringing back Damon really worth the trouble? Franchise re-fresh that rings hollow ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ THE BOURNE IDENTITY ★ ★ ★ ★ THE BOURNE SUPREMACY ★ ★ ★ THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM ★ ★ THE BOURNE LEGACY ★ DELETE FROM MEMORY FILM By Teodor Reljic JASON BOURNE (12A) ★ ★ Matt Damon is back as Jason Bourne Alicia Vikander and Matt Damon