Jason Bourne (soundtrack)


Jason Bourne is the film score to the 2016 film Jason Bourne, directed by Paul Greengrass; the fifth installment of the Bourne film series and a direct sequel to The Bourne Ultimatum, it stars Matt Damon reprising his role as the main character, former CIA assassin Jason Bourne. The score was composed by John Powell and David Buckley and released through Back Lot Music on July 29, 2016.

Background

John Powell who composed the original Bourne trilogy returned to score Jason Bourne. The recording of the film commenced after Powell's concert work for the oratorio A Prussian Requiem, which commenced in March 2016 at London commemorating the centennial of World War I, considered Powell's attempt to express his concern regarding the global conflict and its realities; he compared the impact of violence, adding that the titular character was a victim of violence, and was never instigating it in any way.
Powell considered the film as a nice distraction after suffering a personal loss; his wife Melinda Lerner succumbed to myelodysplastic syndrome, the film was dedicated to Lerner's memory. David Buckley served as the co-composer, who helped him scoring the film authentic to the style and tone. Batu Sener provided additional music. A new version of Moby's "Extreme Ways", entitled "Extreme Ways ", was recorded for the film's end credits.

Reception

Jonathan Broxton of Movie Music UK wrote "With those mitigating circumstances in mind, to me Jason Bourne feels competent, workmanlike, and consistent with the rest of the music in the Bourne series, but is missing that spark of inspiration that would allow it to rise out of the pit with the literally dozens of other scores that were written as a pale imitation of Bourne in the wake of the first score. Without that level of John Powell magic, sadly, it comes across as little more than a facsimile, rather than an original." Kaya Savas of Film.Music.Media wrote "Bourne will always be some of Powell’s most defining scores, and it was fantastic to see a team of support rally behind him to help him make Jason Bourne another great entry in the franchise." James Southall of Movie Wave wrote "It’s hard to imagine anyone ever choosing to listen to Jason Bourne over one of the first three scores in the series, but having said that, the material on which it is built is so strong that taken purely on its own terms it is undoubtedly an enjoyable way of spending an hour."
David Chen of /Film wrote "Even John Powell's score feels like a limp retread of his superlative work from the previous films." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter found it to be "uninspiring". Robert Abele of TheWrap wrote "The sound design, too, is top notch, as is the propulsive score by John Powell and David Buckley."

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes:
; Orchestra
; Musicians