By John Brackett
I’ve been a huge fan of the Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy films. So when I went into The Bourne Ultimatum with high expectations. I was not disappointed, and you won’t be either. This film just plain rocks!
The fact that they films have been so consistently great can be attributed to Director Paul Greengrass. Greengrass took the reigns from Bourne Identity from Doug Liman, who is still onboard as an executive producer, with “Supremacy” keeping the tone of kinetec, in-your-face action that is surprisingly low tech and much more sastifying than the big CGI based set pieces that have taken over, and ruined, most action films of late. With Ultimatum, Greengrass improves on this style injecting the story with a robust jolt of adrenalin that make the two-hour film fly by leaving you wanting more.
The story revolves around Bourne (Matt Damon) seeking the final piece in the puzzle of his identity. He’s gotten his vengance in “Supremacy”, and now he’s out to regain his memory and discover the who, how and why he was turned into a killing machine, and what was the life he left behind.
He’s on the hunt, in B-movie terms “This time it’s personal” comes to mind. The CIA’s extra-legal assassination team of baddies track him through the exquisite locations of from Moscow to Turin, Paris, London, Madrid and Tangier, Morocco before landing him back on the home turf of New York. The use of locations in the Bourne movies are always a treat. They frame the story with a cold-war type “spyworld” feel and are perfect platforms in which to frame the frenetic action sequences.
Jason Bourne outwits and outsmarts his opponents at every turn without driving the film into a world tired plot point clichés. At his core, he’s a man lost in his own time, desperately searching for clues to his own identity and purpose within the larger circle of international espionage. His guilt and feelings of loss over his girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente), is always with him. By the time he fights his way through the maze of deception to the real bad guy (Albert Finny), you are exhausted and surging on all senses like Bourne.
As with the first two films, the supporting cast is well placed and fleshed out enough so the audience can get a feel for each character. Julia Styles and Joan Allen return respectively as the CIA op, attempting to help Bourne, and the CIA official out to bring him in. The great actor David Strathairn appears a lethal and compelling special ops bureaucrat who dictates the “Ultimatum” to Bourne. One of the most interesting relationships is with London a Journalist, Paddy Considine (Simon Ross) who provides enough clues to send Bourne on the right track.
What stands out about this film for me is that they are able to keep, and improve, upon the story line, the action sequences and the authenticity of the characters for each film. The residual effects of this series can be seen in the rebooting of stale action series from Batman Begins to Casino Royale. Hopefully this trend towards character driven action films that don’t rely on CGI and old style plot points will continue. The producers claim this is the final Bourne adventure. My suggestion is to treat it like it is and absorb every element of this well crafted film.