The Classic Matt Damon Action Thriller Surging On Prime Video Streaming Charts

Matt Damon has managed to make a name for himself in multiple genres over the years, but his action films might not always be the first ones audiences think of when his name pops up in conversation. Amazon Prime Video audiences, however, have begun revisiting this trio of classic early '00s action flicks; the first three films in Damon's Jason Bourne series, all of which have entered the streamer's movie-centered top ten chart as of September 15. 

The set of films see Damon play the titular character (also known as David Webb), who, in 2002's "The Bourne Identity," is suffering from psychogenic amnesia. He has no idea who he is and why he has a certain set of special skills, but he must uncover what happened to him before he ends up in a body bag. In the sequel, 2004's "The Bourne Supremacy," Jason doesn't quite know who he is yet, and tries to write down every flash of memory he gets to develop a fuller picture of what happened to him. He finds himself on the wrong end of the CIA. The final movie in the trilogy, 2007's "The Bourne Ultimatum," sees Bourne's quest for answers continue. As he tries to piece together more details of what's happened to him, he turns the tables and goes after the people he thinks are responsible for setting him down this path. But Damon's time as Bourne didn't end there.

The Jason Bourne universe's timeline contains two more films. 2012's "The Bourne Legacy" is a part of the Jason Bourne series, but does not feature Damon at all. Instead, it's all about another agent, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), who is in the middle of trying to find his way out of the wilderness after being dumped there by the CIA as a punishment. As he traverses Alaska, the repercussions from what Bourne has done rocks his status quo and shakes up his world. Much of the film is about the consequences of Bourne's actions as opposed to the movie featuring him directly, which adds an interesting wrinkle to the expected plot and allows the franchise to engage in some broader world-building. 

The final film (so far), 2016's "Jason Bourne," sees Matt Damon return to play Bourne once again. Since he faked his death after exposing Operation Blackbriar, he's still a tormented man who can't glue the fragmented memories of his past together. Dealing with flashbacks, he's become a street fighter for cash in Greece. But fate isn't done with Bourne by a long shot, and he finds himself pulled back into the action while trying to learn about his father's potential role in Bourne's recruitment into Operation Treadstone.

While there was an attempt at launching a show within the Bourne universe — again, not featuring Jason Bourne — called "Treadstone" on USA Network in 2019, this film marks the end of the movie series as of this writing. Of course, the release order isn't the correct order in which to watch the Bourne movies, but regardless of what order you choose, Prime Video subscribers are certainly interested in revisiting this character right now.