SUMMARY:

Fugitive CIA assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) continues to put the pieces of his missing past together as he closes in on a plot by the agency to allow itself total freedom from government oversight. His journey brings him full circle...back to where his mysterious odyssey began.

STEVE SAYS:

The is one of those rare cases of a movie franchise getting better with each succeeding sequel. THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM is the kick-ass action movie of the summer. Like its two predecessors, this third entry in the Bourne trilogy is a thinking man’s spy movie, probing issues that are probably more germane to the U.S. now than when Robert Ludlum wrote the novel upon which Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi based their taut script. At a time when the Bush administration presses for less oversight of its activities, broadening the scope of intelligence efforts to include illegal wiretapping, rendition and torture, the script focuses on a renegade faction of the CIA that reaches into its highest levels, seeking to operate free of scrutiny by any branch of the government.

While THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM has more than its share of nail-biter scenes of action and suspense, it’s far from perfect. Paul Greengrass (UNITED 93) returns to the director’s chair he occupied for THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. This time out, he seems to adopt the worst excesses of fellow director Michael Bay, including machine gun style editing and a shaky hand-held camera. The result is a number of sequences in which is it difficult to follow the action. For example, there is the culmination of an edge-of-the-seat scene in which an assassin (or “asset” in CIA parlance) closes in on Agent Nicki Parsons as Bourne works to overtake him and prevent her death. When Bourne and the killer finally get into a hand-to-hand showdown, it’s literally difficult to tell who is winning until it’s over. Perhaps that’s what Greengrass intended, but I didn’t pay my eight bucks to guess what was happening on screen.

Matt Damon has Bourne down pat. The actor, whose roles usually feature his boyish charm and “aw shucks” grin, seems to have a face chiseled from granite when playing the amnesiac spy. I must admit that he would not have been high on my list for the initial casting of the role of Jason Bourne, but he has made it his own and plays it to a fair-thee-well.

Greengrass has wisely surrounded Damon with a cast of high-octane, quality performers. Protean actor David Strathairn elevates the level of any movie he’s in. From his spot-on performance as Edward R. Murrow in GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK to his mentally defective homeless man/Greek chorus in John Sayles’ CITY OF HOPE, Strathairn seldom repeats a character. Here, as nominal villain, CIA Assistant Director Noah Vosen, this amazing actor presents a character who is bombastic, yet somehow understated. It’s a crime that his work has yet to be recognized by the Academy.

Joan Allen brings the same level of proficiency to her role of CIA analyst Pam Landy, returning from the ranks of THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. Allen is another performer who enriches whatever film she’s in. Her scenes with Strathairn crackle with energy and authenticity.

Julia Stiles is back as well, playing Bourne ally Nicky Parsons. Stiles is a vastly underrated performer, but remains one of the better actresses of her generation.

This is one of the few films I’ve seen in the action or spy genres to acknowledge that the taking of a human life is not something to be done lightly, without conscience or afterthought. That moment helps ground a script with a lot of implausible qualities into reality.

While THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM brings closure to the story arc that has stretched across three films, it would be foolish to think we’ve seen the last of Jason Bourne. Indeed, the film concludes with an image that leads us to believe we have only just begun to witness the capabilities of this complex agent. THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM may not be the ideal date-night movie, but if it’s action and suspense you’re looking for, you won’t do much better than this.

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PATTY SAYS:

Yadda, yadda, yadda. 

If you like ear splitting soundtrack, action scenes the eye can’t keep up with, implausible car chases and if you buy that a branch of the federal government is totally corrupt (okay, that part is true)...you’ll love THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM. This film has got more action than a Pam and Tommy Lee home video. Almost every scene is packed with Bourne running…Bourne fighting….Bourne driving….I found myself wanting Bourne to sit the #@%& down and read the paper or something.  It was really more action than anyone not on Ritalin can tolerate.  When I come home from work on Friday night, I’m ready for a glass of wine and a crackling fire (well, maybe not the fire part in August).  I’m not looking for a good nail biter so I can maintain the same level of anxiety that I’ve survived working with sick or abused children all week.  Trust me, reality is scary enough.  I don’t need to worry about CIA agents with seemingly supernatural powers.  THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM is a Red Bull when I’d rather have pino noir.

Having said that, there were things I liked about the movie.  Once again, David Strathairn is the calm in the eye of a visual hurricane.  He grounds the movie with his skillfully executed characterization of the dark side.  Matt Damon is deep enough inside the skin of Jason Bourne in this trilogy that he delivers one smooth, consistent performance.  Mama, he’s pretty and he’s got style.

Adrenalin junkies will love THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM if one can forgive the utter implausibility of the writing, but hey, if I get bit by a bug in my garden I don’t sit around waiting to turn into Spidergirl.

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August 4, 2007