Movie Review: "The Bourne Ultimatum"

Bourne is back, and this time... he's still mad.

Starring Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Joan Allen, and Albert Finney. Directed by Paul Greengrass.

WARNING: The following review may contain spoliers. Read at your own risk.

The review is going to be as objective as possible being that when I saw the movie, I was tired as hell.

It's hard for me to gauge how good this movie is. I'm not trying to say that it's a bad movie, far from it. If you had to measure, “The Bourne Ultimatum,” against any other film this year, you would find it coming out somewhere near the top. As far as movies go, it's that good. Problem I have from this is that it's a “marketable” goodness; you know this is going to be a good movie. So while you may not be “Wowed!” it is worth the trip to the theatre.

The story: when we last left Jason Bourne, he had cleared his name with the Bureau. This time he's still trying to find out more info as to who he really is. Enter Project Blackbriar, the successor to Project Treadstone. Apparently, the Agency wanted to continue what was started with the Treadstone project (even though it was shut down and it's creator committed suicide after giving up info that Bourne taped). When Blackbriar makes the UK newspaper, The Guardian, director Noah Vosen (Strathairn) sends an asset (hitman) out to find the reporter's source. This coincides with Bourne (Damon) wanting to find the source as well, especially after reading the newspaper article mentioning him. When Bourne interrupts the hit on the reporter's life, the Agency now has a new target in Bourne. Agent Pamela Landy (Allen) is called in to help “quarterback” the Agency's efforts to hunt down Bourne. What follows a game of twists and turns, with Bourne trying to come out the winner. But at what cost?

This again is one of those movies that the quality has not been diminished from film to film. Great cinematography, great fight scenes, and a great car chase; these have been the requirements that the series of films imposes upon itself to make it's viewers happy. Not that that's a bad thing. I'm just kinda formula'd out from the Bond films. Since Bourne uses just about anything that can be bought at a Dollar Store for a weapon and he has conviction for what he does, we find ourselves compelled to continue watching what he does, to see if he can reach that final goal of remembering everything he needs to know, and if he'll be satisfied in having that knowledge.

My only complaints for this movie were some of the “shaky”-cam shots used when people were face-to-face talking, and the weird “stretched light” lens effect (where different points seem to have a streak of light that goes up and down from a central point). And the fact that it felt the story mimicked “Supremacy” in the fact that there was a new project and its creators were out to find and kill him.

Interesting to me was the fact that Bourne was able to stay one step ahead, doing things I couldn't have imagined if I were in the same situation. Also, a hinted love interest between Nicky Parsons (Stiles) and Bourne. Lastly, Landy's character gets more dimension.

If you're a Bourne fan, you'll enjoy this movie. It will not disappoint you. If you are not a Bourne fan, don't bother watching it because you'll have the same complaints as you did from “Identity.”

One last thing: while walking away from the theatre, my friend Paul and I were discussing how the movie ended (which does a full circle from “Identity”). Paul said, “Well, I think theyll do a few more movies. Weren't there more books? It'll make too much money not to.” As a film lover, I disagree with making more of these. This is a great movie to end the character on. I enjoy the character, but I feel that the story is finally through. Let Jason Bourne rest in peace.

My grade: A, on the promise that this will be the last “Bourne” movie.