On Film: The Bourne Ultimatum

Directed by Paul Greengrass

Starring Matt Damon, Julia Styles

I really liked the first two films in this franchise and I particularly liked Paul Greengrass's handheld camera frenetic approach to making the second film and this new one.  The films are often compared to Bond but that's not really a fair comparison though.  The Bourne films are about an agent on the run from those that made him where Bond, mostly, works for the agency that made him.  There's something inherently American about the Bourne films for better or worse....

The Movie

For three years Jason Bourne has been on the run from the covert government agency that made him a super spy.  He doesn't remember much about who he is or what he's done prior to the three years of running.  He's put together bits and pieces here and there but not much at at all.  This third film starts with a bang, with Bourne fighting his way through an investigation to find those responsible for making him who he is and for the death of his girlfriend.  Now, I sort of thought he already figured out who was who but decided it would be better just to disappear rather than fight them.  At any rate the investigation and the ass-kicking starts right away, and that's what's good, and what's bad about the film.  It depends upon your approach to it.  The question is, have you seen the first two films or not?

The Bourne Ultimatum is a film made for fans of the first two, not for new viewers.  I say that because there is absolutely no character development in the film at all.  When various characters appear in the film we are supposed to just know who they are.  For example when Julia Styles character appears in the film there's obviously a history between her and Bourne but it's never covered in the film.  So, if you haven't seen the other two films you may find that you have a problem caring about any of the characters because you don't get to know them at all.  On the other hand, if you've seen the other two films this one plays like the final chapter of the series.  In fact it would be fun to watch all three films back to back.  The Bourne Ultimatum is like the action packed climax to a six hour long spy film.  If you watch it that way the whole story is smarter than your average action film and more fun than your average spy film.

The action in this film is brilliantly shot and assembled.  The goal of most modern action films is to create a frantic in your face sort of action that is supposed to make the audience feel like they are in the middle of the action as it happens.  Most often though action scenes like this are cut to fast with too much shaky cam making the fight scenes nearly impossible to follow.  My favorite example of this is The Chronicles of Riddick.  The main fight scene feels like you're looking into a strobe light.  Director Paul Greengrass chooses to slow down the cutting and shoot the fight scenes in The Bourne Ultimatum handheld successful creating the frantic feel but never making the scenes impossible to follow.  More action filmmakers should use the second and third Bourne films as text book examples of how to shoot fight scenes in particular.

The movie is exciting and fast paced but never dumb like so many current action films.  It is a failing of the film not to be able to stand on its own with deeper characters but I can't fault it fully because I have watched and love the first two films so for me and others of you like me, the characters are very well developed.  The film offers some finality to the Bourne story, but there's always room for another film if they wanna do it, and if they do I'll be first in line to buy a ticket.

8/10

-Stephen Lackey