Movie and Television Reviews

The first vehicle chase occurs about a third of the way in The Bourne Ultimatum and is very good, beginning on a motorcycle and then transitioning onto the rooftops overhead. The big fight against the level 3 “boss” eventualizes at the end of the first vehicle chase and is itself excellent in what has become the Bourne trademark Martial style, with lots of quick moves and thrusts-it almost looks like a way people would really fight (in reality, they'd spend most of their time on the floor, UFC style).

The second vehicle (car) chase easily surpasses the first and, for that matter, those in both previous Bournes. It's certainly comparable with the best in cinema history.

In between the car chases, Jason Bourne (Damon, Matt) spends most of his time evading ambushes in public places around the world, from Tangiers to France to New York, en route to his goal. One knows that they're different cities because every time Bourne arrives at a new destination, we get a shot of its skyline, although after the flyover, they all look pretty similar.

The deceptively complex plot revolves around Jason Bourne's quest to find his born identity and exact revenge on those who changed it, CIA operatives in charge of a program to produce super-assassins called Treadstone originally, but changed later to Blackbriar (copyright lawsuit from Ohio spy ring?). In case you're confused, the movie provides two quick plot summaries. The first one recaps the previous movies in the Bourne Trilogy, “So, Bourne finds out that...” and the second one, in the middle, reviews the previous hour.

But, pure revenge isn't exactly the most uplifting of motivations so Bourne also wants to make sure that nobody becomes as good as he at killing those unfairly deemed enemies of the state by the American government. It's not clear whether he wants to stop the secret program because it's cruel to the men who enter the program or because government assassinations are intrinsically wrong; it could very well be both.

The movie is filled with clever scenes showcasing Bourne's unnatural gift for deception and technological wizardry and his inborn situational awareness. My favorite has Bourne sneaking into the CIA headquarters and calling its chief, an uncomplicated slime ball, to ask where he is. When the chief answers that he's in the office, Bourne replies, “That's not true. If you were, I'd be staring right at you.”

The camera is a little jittery with some obnoxious shots in which we're forced to look over the back of somebody's neck in order to see the person to whom he's talking. I wouldn't mind too much if the neck didn't cover three fourths of the screen. And then the extreme “Mr. Big” closeups of people's mouths when they're speaking on the phone are also a little disgusting.

Follow up:

The dialog is worse. Not from Bourne, who hardly speaks at all, but from the supporting cast. Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) makes sure we know she's in charge by barking orders, “we'll do names later...pull up the...” The CIA automatons go rapid-fire through their protocols and the CIA doctor who transformed (or had him re-born if you prefer) soldier David Webb into Jason Bourne, Dr. Albert Hirsch (Albert Finney) actually begins a sentence with “you didn't really think...” when he explains the whole thing, a somewhat underwhelming revelation at that.

The Bourne Ultimatum's hyper-pace and thrilling fight and chase scenes, however, leave the movie-goer with precious little time to contemplate its imperfections and the movie, with its telegraphed plot and thorough conventionality (except for the fight scenes) is very watchable and quite entertaining-a little deaper than the Die Hards and less ridiculous than Tom Cruise's Mission Impossibles. And, let's face it, besides the recent James Bond, Casino Royale, which summoned that franchise from the silliest circle of hell, and the Bourne movies with their dedication to seriousness, superhero spies in movies with a close-to-realistic plot are hard to come by.

Character:

Jason Bourne as played by Matt Damon is far closer to Jack Bauer than James Bond. He's humorless, expressionless, and intense. Bourne is idealist to Jack's realist, however. In the Bourne movies, Bourne distances himself from lowly motivations like national interest, brandishing those lethal fists for purer goals, the righting of government wrongs. It's clear that Bourne uses his powers reluctantly, as he spares the life of several of his tormentors after he renders them ineffective like in those gladiator vanquishing scenes.

Bourne is the ultimate survivor, overcoming multiple attempts on his life, near drownings, and close proximities to explosives (If he were really that close to a bomb as it went off, he'd be deaf, at least).

Bourne is dedicated to his mission of revenge and spends little time enjoying pleasures, carnal or otherwise. He appreciates help, but doesn't feel bad if people get hurt because of their kindness.

Politics/Message:

The movie is kind of like a leftist James Bond. How do I know? First, instead of madmen bent on taking over the world or terrorists, the enemy is the American government. To win in The Bourne Ultimatum is to accomplish that most exhilarating defeat of one's enemy, according to the left-securing indictments and embarrassing the government in the press.

Another reason I know is that Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass say so. I've talked about their interview in this post, but, essentially, they claim that Bourne is different from Bond because Bourne is an outsider (like Matt Damon) instead of an imperialist stooge like James bond. (The Bourne Ultimatum is made by that little indy company Universal, sponsored by the philanthropy Mastercard, and product placements help outsider companies like Google).

I also don't know what being an outsider means to the dead left in Jason Bourne's wake. Although he may not be as blasé or enthusiastic about killing as James or Jack, Bourne still racks up a Bond-like body count, managing to kill innocent bystanders (and people of color) in a market in Tangiers with an improvised explosive, and ruining the life of a CIA agent who risks her career to help him. The end justifies the means, I guess.

Bourne's American government kills just because it feels like it. Bourne doesn't mention terrorism or any other evil that may necessitate a strong hand. Ironically, the only way he's able to stop the evil program he hates is through force, and with the techniques taught to him by the government program he stops.

Contrary to Greengrass and Damon, Bourne relies on technology and gadgets quite often.

Water boarding is mentioned in case the The Bourne Ultimatum's point isn't clear enough.

Non-aligned critics: My wife liked it very much and several audience members applauded.

The Bourne Files 3-Disc Collection (The Bourne Identity / The Bourne Supremacy)

Casino Royale (2-Disc Widescreen Edition)

Cast and credits:

Directed by
Paul Greengrass

Writing credits
Tony Gilroy (screenplay) and
Scott Z. Burns (screenplay) and
George Nolfi (screenplay)

Tony Gilroy (screen story)

Robert Ludlum (novel)

Cast (in credits order)

Matt Damon ... Jason Bourne

Julia Stiles ... Nicky Parsons

David Strathairn ... Noah Vosen

Scott Glenn ... Ezra Kramer

Paddy Considine ... Simon Ross

Edgar Ramirez ... Paz

Albert Finney ... Dr. Albert Hirsch

Joan Allen ... Pamela Landy
Tom Gallop ... Tom Cronin
Corey Johnson ... Wills
Daniel Brühl ... Martin Kreutz

Joey Ansah ... Desh Bouksani

Colin Stinton ... Neal Daniels
Dan Fredenburgh ... Jimmy
Lucy Liemann ... Lucy
Bryan Reents ... Technician
Arkie Reece ... Technician

John Roberson ... Technician

Russ Huard ... Technician
Mark Bazeley ... Betancourt
Sinead O'Keeffe ... Chamberlain

Scott Adkins ... Agent Kiley

Branko Tomovic ... Russian Policeman #1
Laurence Possa ... Russian Policeman #2

Trevor St. John ... Tactical Team Leader
Albert Jones ... Tactical Team Agent

Jeffrey Lee Gibson ... Vosen's Driver
Uriel Emil Pollack ... Morgue Attendant
Omar Hernández ... NYPD Officer #1

William H. Burns ... NYPD Officer #2
Michael Wildman ... CRI Agent
Kai Martin ... Hoody
rest of cast listed alphabetically:

Chris Cooper ... Alexander Conklin

Brian Cox ... Ward Abbott

Produced by
Zakaria Alaoui .... line producer: Morocco
Patrick Crowley .... producer
Jeff Kirschenbaum .... executive producer
Donna Langley .... executive producer
Doug Liman .... executive producer
Frank Marshall .... producer
Henry Morrison .... executive producer
Colin J. O'Hara .... associate producer
Paul Sandberg .... producer
Andrew R. Tennenbaum .... co-producer
Jeffrey M. Weiner .... executive producer