Treadstone review – fast-paced Bourne series is a surprise success
Deftly avoiding franchise fatigue, this globe-hopping action caper ambitiously expands Robert Ludlum’s canvas for a fun, if functionally made, show
There’s something vaguely aggravating about the idea of a new TV series existing within an expanded Bourne universe, a tiresome concept indicative of so many awful trends refusing to go away. The franchise had already died a death on the big screen after one overwhelmingly dull spin-off (The Bourne Legacy) and one slightly less dull sequel (Jason Bourne) and transporting it to a cable network seems less like ingenuity and more like inevitability. With a few exceptions, film-to-television adaptations have largely felt redundant, and premiering on the USA network, home to some of cable’s least talked-about dramas, Treadstone seemed destined to bring us more of the same. But parkouring its way on to screens with far more vim and purpose than one would expect, Treadstone is a scrappy but stimulating surprise and a refreshingly necessary addition to the saga.
Related: Raising Dion review – seven-year-old superhero is a cereal thriller