Matt Damon's Action Comedy Movie Reunion With Bourne Director Gets Rotten Tomatoes Score

Summary The Instigators debuts on Rotten Tomatoes to 59% with 17 reviews, earning it a "rotten" designation.

The Matt Damon and Doug Liman collaboration is praised in reviews for its comedy and the chemistry between Damon, Casey Affleck, and Hong Chau.

The Instigators has been criticized for its familiar plotting and lack of originality.

The Instigators' Rotten Tomatoes score has now been revealed, with critics sharing their thoughts on the Matt Damon and Doug Liman reunion. After previously working together on 2002's The Bourne Identity, Damon and Liman are now working together on an Apple TV+ film with a lighter tone. The Instigators stars Damon and Casey Affleck as Rory and Cobby, respectively, two inexperienced robbers who are forced to go on the run with one of their therapists, played by Hong Chau, after a job goes wrong.

Ahead of the film's streaming release, The Instigators has now debuted on Rotten Tomatoes to a score of 59% with 17 reviews, as of writing. This score is sure to fluctuate as more reviews are added, but the movie currently earns a disappointing "rotten" designation. The Bourne Identity, by contrast, has an 84%, suggesting Damon and Liman weren't quite able to recapture the magic for their latest collaboration.

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What Critics Are Saying About The Instigators

The Response To The Matt Damon Movie Has Been Mixed

Unlike The Bourne Identity and all of its sequels, The Instigators is clearly aiming for a lighter and more comedic tone. Damon's Rory, for example, isn't experienced as a criminal, and much of the film's humor comes from how out of his depth he is during the heist and its fallout. The dynamic between Damon and Affleck, too, is a source of much of the film's humor. Though opinions vary, The Instigators' comedy and performances are mentioned in several reviews as two of the film's main strengths.

After working together in the Ocean's franchise, Damon and Affleck reunited once more last year as part of the cast of Oppenheimer.

Unfortunately, other aspects of the movie have proven more divisive. The overall tone, for example, evidently hasn't landed for all critics. In her review for The Instigators for Screen Rant, Molly Freeman argues that the grittier crime elements of the film clash with its own attempts to parody the genre, with the film ending up in an awkward and somewhat confused middle ground. She does stress, however, that the film is still an enjoyable ride despite this.

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In his review for The Daily Beast, Nick Schager takes issue with The Instigators' formulaic nature, calling the movie "generic in just about every respect." Slant Magazine critic Ross McIndoe, on the other hand, was far more charmed by the film, calling it "always entertaining" despite its flaws. While critics seem mixed on The Instigators, the film could end up proving far more popular with audiences.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes