Five reasons why Bourne is better than Bond

James Bond might be an institution for some film buffs, but we'd take relatively new kid on the block Jason Bourne over 007 every time. Here are five reasons why.

Pace

Throughout his existence on the big screen, James Bond has always been one for dilly-dallying, whether it’s lazing about on the beach or on some fancy yacht, or playing a poker game that lasts for half of the length of the film itself. Bourne, on the other hand, doesn’t mess around, nor can he afford to.

The fact that he’s constantly on the move and always on edge gives the audience little time to think or get distracted and although all three Bourne movies to date are close to the two-hour mark, they certainly don’t feel that long such is the pace at which they flow throughout.

Cast

While it would be bordering on sacreligious to criticise famous Bonds like Sean Connery, Roger Moore and our own Pierce Brosnan (even though his Bond performances were a far cry from his role in cult classic Taffin), there have been some terrible thespians filling the role of 007 over the years.

Daniel Craig was good in Casino Royale, not so good in Quantum of Solace, the less said about George Lazenby the better, while Teri Hatcher and Halle Berry are amongst those who have failed to convince in the femme fatale role, although Halle is almost completely forgiven for that scene when she emerged from the water in an orange bikini in Die Another Day.

The Bourne films, on the other hand, have been blessed with a great cast from the get-go. Jason Bourne is the role that made Matt Damon the superstar he is today, while Chris Cooper, Joan Allen, David Strathairn and Albert Finney have shone at different stages of the trilogy to date.

The cast in the upcoming Bourne Legacy is equally as impressive on the surface, particularly in the form of Jeremy Renner, who was brilliant in The Hurt Locker and The Town, and Ed Norton, most famous for his performances in Fight Club and American History X.

Fight scenes

Some of the action set-pieces in the Bond films over the years have been spectacular to watch – the opening scenes of Goldeneye and Casino Royale to name two – but for the most part, the Bond series has been lacking in up close, hand to hand combat, with Bond more likely to be tied up and faced with an elaborate yet easily escapable death trap as opposed to somebody willing to beat and bludgeon him to death.

The fight scenes in the Bourne films, on the other hand, are incredibly technical and tense affairs that obviously took a lot of perfecting from those taking part.

All three films to date have featured at least one on one encounter involving Bourne and a fellow agent and Bourne’s use of various household implements such as a pen, a book and a fan to eventually get the better of his foe has been sheer genius.

Realism

Sure we’d all love to drive Aston Martins, bed the world’s most beautiful women and avail of all the gadgets that Q has to offer like Bond does but for all bar incredibly rich Bond fans – and even for them, there’s no guarantee of getting the girls - procuring such luxurious items is a mere pipe dream.

On the other hand, while we mightn’t have the skills to evade police cars through the streets of Paris and Moscow like Bourne did, we could certainly afford the cars he was driving and the dangerous situations he finds himself in are far more believable than Bond’s perilous yet often fantastical adventures.

Soundtracks

The Bond theme tune is something of an institution at this stage, but for the life of us we can’t remember the last time there was a decent one. The collaboration between Jack White and Alicia Keys for Quantum of Solace was half decent and far better than recent efforts from Madonna and Sheryl Crow, but the days of 'Live and Let Die' and 'Nobody Does it Better' are long gone. Need we mention ‘The Living Daylights’?

While the Moby track, ‘Extreme Ways’ that has featured in all three films is in danger of suffering from overkill, the other three soundtracks from John Powell are understated and underrated efforts, which suit the fast moving pace of the movies entirely and complement rather than take attention away from the action at hand.