In this past summer of threequels, The Bourne Ultimatum stood head and shoulders above the competition.
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Extreme ways are back again and so is Jason Bourne.
There is no doubt that Matt Damon was already an in-demand leading man, but he firmly cemented his status as Hollywood superstar by anchoring a wildly successful action franchise. I certainly don´t think the general public ever saw Damon as a potential action hero until he became Bourne, a point that was even poked fun of in "The 40-Year Old Virgin." The Bourne series have been comprised of those rare action films that have won over movie-goers and critics alike. They´re proof that loud, dumb, and overproduced need not be requisites to make a great action film. The Bourne series has definitely changed the way we see the spy thriller and was a tremendous motivator in rebooting the Bond franchise lest 007 become a campy, outmoded dinosaur.
"The Bourne Ultimatum" is a direct continuation of the last film, "Bourne Supremacy," picking up right where we left off. A few steps back if you count the epilogue, which is played into very cleverly in the third act of "Ultimatum." Unlike other franchises such as "The Matrix" and "Pirates of the Caribbean", the Bourne sequels never feel like one movie stretched into two and stretched far too thinly for its own good. "Ultimatum" is packed with enough story and suspense to keep our attention and takes Bourne on a criss-cross journey across the globe.
"Ultimatum" opens up in Moscow, minutes after Jason Bourne has confronted Irina Neski, whose parents he had murdered while a member of the assassination program, Treadstone. Bourne evades the Russian authorities and six weeks later he is in Paris telling Martin Kreutz (Daniel Bruhl), the brother of his girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente) that she is dead and he´s going to end this war against his makers. Meanwhile, Simon Ross (Paddy Considine), an investigative reporter for The Guardian, uncovers information about Bourne along with Treadstone and its replacement operation, Blackbriar, which was mentioned briefly at the end of the first film. This puts him in immediate danger from CIA official, Noah Vosen (David Strathairn), who heads Operation Blackbriar. Bourne arrives in London to futilely save Ross´s life when Vosen dispatches numerous agents to silence him.
Despite Ross´s death, Bourne manages to get information that leads him to Ross´s source, Neil Daniels (Colin Stinton), a section chief in Madrid who was a part of Treadstone at the beginning. At the time same time, Deputy Director Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) is brought back into the fold to continue the hunt for Bourne. She quickly balks at Vosen´s cavalier attitude towards life and attempts to secretly countermand his operation. Unbeknownst to Landy, Vosen and CIA Director Ezra Kramer (Scott Glenn) are sizing her up as a scapegoat should any of their black bag dealings come to light. Also returning for this go-around is Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), a logistics coordinator for Treadstone. When last we saw her, Bourne was holding a gun to her head in a Berlin subway. Now, Parsons is assigned to the Madrid office and assists Bourne in his search for Daniels. They hint of a past romance between Parsons and Bourne and it seems she might replace Marie in Bourne´s life. Thankfully, the filmmakers resist the clichéd need to add a love interest to the mix though it still feels like an unnecessary subplot. New to "Ultimatum" are Albert Finney in a brief role as Dr. Albert Hirsch the man behind the behavior modification that has erased Bourne´s memories and Paz (Edgar Ramirez), a Blackbriar assassin dogging Bourne in London and New York.
There is a slight sense of been-there, done-that when it comes to "Ultimatum." Some of the main action set pieces feel very similar to ones already done in the previous films, just done on a bigger, more expensive scale. In fact, the climactic car chase in "Ultimatum" ends almost exactly like the climactic car chase in "Supremacy." Both have a car driven into a cement pillar and both have Bourne refusing to pull the trigger on his injured enemy. Bourne also suffers from typical action hero syndrome where he miraculously survives multiple car crashes and beatings with a few scratches to show for it. There´s also Paul Greengrass´s shaky handheld camera technique which has garnered polarizing opinions. I didn´t find the camera shakes as dizzying or overused as I did with "Supremacy. I did feel Greengrass didn´t need to go handheld for simple two-shots of actors chatting over breakfast. Still, these are only minor quibbles and the film is too good to be bogged down by them.
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