History Film / TheBourneSeries

%%* HeroesWantRedHeads

A [[TrilogyCreep series]] of action films tenuously ([[InNameOnly pretty tenuously]]) based on the [[Literature/TheBourneSeries Robert Ludlum books of the same name]] and (with one exception) starring Creator/MattDamon.

This series revolutionized the SpyFiction movie genre for its simplicity and glamourless grittiness (as opposed to TuxedoAndMartini), as well as for having a smart protagonist, globetrotting (with virtually zero CaliforniaDoubling), well-crafted suspense and aggressive action sequences, hand-to-hand combat and car chases especially.

The main protagonist is Jason Bourne, an amnesiac who finds himself with [[ProfessionalKiller super-assassin]] skills and has to stay on the run from former employers and whoever else wants to kill him or manipulate him to evil ends. Each movie follows a slightly different story but retains some basic elements of Bourne eluding government custody, killing a fellow assassin with some household implement and going for an innovative and harrowing car chase, and features variations on Music/{{Moby}}'s "Extreme Ways" as end theme.

* WeAllLiveInAmerica: It appears the CIA can do almost anything they want in any European country while the local authorities dutifully assist them, or at least don't do anything to hinder them. That the local authorities might refuse to help the CIA based of the fact that an American organization has no jurisdiction in their countries never seems to have crossed the writers' minds. (On the other hand, they are often seen lying to local authorities to manipulate them into capturing the protagonist. It's only in Berlin that the CIA takes an active role on the ground interacting with German officials since it's American agents that were murdered.)

* TheAtoner: Bourne.

* BlackShirt: Noah Vosen.

* CombatPragmatist: Bourne gets the job done, whatever it takes. Cross too.
** GroinAttack
** ImprovisedWeapon

* CursedWithAwesome: Bourne and Cross.
* DeadlyDoctor: Albert Hirsch, the mastermind.
* DeadpanSnarker: A lot of the characters, especially the employees of the CIA.
* {{Determinator}}: Insert whoever belongs to the superhuman projects here.
* DidYouActuallyBelieve: See trope page.

* EliteMooks: Treadstone/Blackbriar operatives.

* EveryCarIsAPinto: Avoided, but played straight once in ''Identity''.
* EvilMentor: Dr. Albert Hirsch

* FlatWhat: Marie evokes this trope in the first movie.

* HeroAntagonist: Pamela Landy in ''Supremacy'' and ''Ultimatum'', until [[spoiler:she blows the whistle on Operation Blackbriar in the latter film.]]

* HitmanWithAHeart: Bourne, sort of.
** Legacy also showed that the Scientists were beginning to find this a problem in both Treadstone and Outcome agents, thus developed LARX agents to be more efficient.

* JustAStupidAccent: Largely averted. Foreign characters are usually shown speaking in their native tongue.
* KnightInSourArmor: Pamela Landy.

* MacGyvering: Bourne frequently does this.

* [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands New Skills as the Plot Demands]]: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the first film; Bourne has a ton of skills that help him disappear, beat people up and kill. He doesn't know about most of them until he has to use them; best demonstrated when a couple cops try to arrest him for sleeping on a park bench. A few seconds later they're both disabled and he is standing over them with one of their service pistols, a look of utter bewilderment on his face.
* {{Omniglot}}: One of the first things Jason Bourne learns about himself after his amnesia is he can speak several different languages including Italian, French and German.
* OmniscientDatabase: The CIA's database. And granted, there's a CD containing various project personnel...

%%* ReplacementGoldfish: [[spoiler:Nicky Parsons]], almost. %%(Zero-Context Example)%%

* WeaponOfChoice: Many of the assassins use weapons manufactured by Sig-Sauer, Glock and Beretta

* The Bourne movies 1-3 are three of the 533 listed movies and Tv shows on board the International Space Station.

* PositiveDiscrimination:
** There are no evil female characters in the first three movies. Either they are sympathetic to begin with, or if antagonistic toward Bourne, are established as being misinformed and at once turn good after learning the truth.
** Averted in ''Legacy'', where the leader of the team sent to kill Marta is a female, as is a prominent member of Byer's team.

* AscendedExtra: Creator/JuliaStiles character Nicky was a very minor character in ''Identity'', and would have been completely overlooked if it wasn't someone with Stiles name recognition playing her. She returned in ''Supremacy'' with an enlarged role based on her involvement with Treadstone in the first film. In ''Ultimatum'' she ends up becoming a co-protagonist with Bourne, using her knowledge of mission protocol to help root out a Blackbriar assassin and hinting that they knew each other before Jason signed up for Treadstone. In ''Jason Bourne'', she discovers more about Bourne's life as David Webb [[spoiler:which gets her killed by the same CIA asset that killed Bourne's father]].