The Bourne Ultimatum - Review

"The Bourne Ultimatum" has much in common with this summer's earlier "Live Free or Die Hard," in that both movies are essentially one long chase sequence involving a protagonist whose ingenuity and grace under pressure are surpassed only by his seeming indestructibility.

Part three begins exactly where part two left off. In fact, as complicated as it may sound, some events in Ultimatum actually coincide with events that were seen in Supremacy. The chronology of the two films overlap in places, which I found quite a remarkable achievement for the writers and continuity people on the crew. For example, the very last scene of Supremacy shows up about 3/4 of the way into Ultimatum, and yet the two stories are completely different.

Matt Damon again reprises his role as the infamous forgetful assassin, Jason Bourne - the product of a top secret CIA behavioral moderation program. But the memories of his past still prove elusive and he still yearns to put all the pieces together. His hope of uncovering the past lies with a British journalist, Simon Ross (Paddy Considine) who has a source within the CIA who holds the answers. As Bourne picks up the trail to find this informant, top CIA man Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) and his team work tirelessly to keep the lid on tight. And if that means killing Bourne in the process - so be it.

The action of this film starts at the very onset and doesn't let up. The viewer is taken to locales all over the world, including Turin, Italy; Tangier, Morocco; Madrid, Spain, and New York City. Once again Bourne proves to be a smart operative, dodging the CIA's hit squad and staying once step ahead of the guys in Langley. The entire film is hip, intelligent, and clever, without being overly-complicated. The plot is easy enough to follow, but is similar in places to The Bourne Identity. The story doesn't quite separate itself from the original as Supremacy managed to do.

Paul Greengrass, who helmed Supremacy, once again takes on the chores of directing. His documentary style of shooting puts the audience right in the action, with enough subjective hand-held shots and shaky camera work to make anyone nauseous. Greengrass would have done well to pull out on some of these fight scenes and car chases to give us more establishing shots. It's very disorienting to the point of distracting. Often it's difficult to tell just exactly what's going on.

Matt Damon fills the role of Jason Bourne nicely, blending cold intensity with a sense of vulnerability. However, more attention was placed on characterization in The Bourne Identity than in The Bourne Ultimatum. It seemed to be all action with no depth of character. The fault here lies with Greengrass, who apparently didn't want to take the time to flesh out the characters and their motivations. What comes across is a cast of so-so performances, when (with a little attention) they could have been just as explosive as the action.

In all, The Bourne Ultimatum is raw and intense with a ton of action - spectacular fight scenes, car chases, and gun battles. Bourne is the new Bond.