The Bourne Ultimatum Review

Bottom-Line: A worthy third bite at the Jason Borne apple.

Bourne is back, and this time he coming home to New York City-eventually.  As I stated in my review of The Bourne Supremacy, some action movies can be judged solely on their 'money scenes': those fistfights, car chases, gun battles, and explosions that can make or break a film. Not so with the third and final installment in of Robert Ludlum's suburb spy novels, based on character Jason Borne, The Bourne Ultimatum; it feels more like one long action sequence; from the opening frame to the closing sequence, there is scarce time to take a breath.  And don't look away!  Do so and you might miss some vital element of the story that ties the rest together like so much silk string. 

This movie adaptation of The Bourne Ultimatum has been the most successful of the Bourne franchise, which started with the 2002 movie The Bourne Identity the first novel in the trilogy of novels written by Ludlum centered on CIA super-spy Jason Bourne.  The action continued in The Bourne Supremacy and left Bourne is Moscow.  As the first frames played out on The Bourne Ultimatum Jason Bourne portrayed by an unlikely spy Matt Damon (Chasing Amy, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Saving Private Ryan), has is being chased by the Moscow police, but of course somehow he gets away, only to turn up in Turin, Spain...

Story-Line

Directed once again by Paul Greengrass (United 93), this installment of Borne's story is true to the last two  insofar as the action is intense, the story smart, and the fighting fast paced (almost too fast), and very intense and precise.  Greengrass follows a tried and true formula and once again gives The Bourne Ultimatum a gritty, realistic feel that mates close camera work with fast cutaways meant mimic the fast pace of Bourne in action.  Some of the important players are back for this third installment including Julia Stiles (Nicky Parsons), and Joan Allen (Pamela Landry).

My Viewpoint

The Bourne Ultimatum effectively brings real-world news and happenings into Bourne's world and weaves it into an explosive story about a deep-cover CIA Black operation headed by an unlikely group of villains, bent on saving the American way of life by systematically violating the very tenets of her birth. 

Matt Damon is spectacular as Jason Bourne; he plays the character so low-keyed and with such intelligence that it is always a surprise when he erupts into action.  Damon brings Bourne an internal calmness that few other actors could have managed.  Damon makes you care about Bourne's plight; we want to answers as much as Bourne does.     

Overall I found The Bourne Ultimatum an extremely enjoyable film, one I would see again, if only to pick up on the parts I missed the first time.  There is a lot to be said about the James Bond franchise; it is good naughty fun, and that never asks you to think too much.  The Bourne franchise on the other hand is just the opposite; thinking is essential to the enjoyment of the films.