The Bourne Ultimatum

Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Scott Glenn, and Joan Allen

Written by: Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns, George Nolfi, and Tom Stoppard based on the novel by Robert Ludlum

Directed by: Paul Greengrass

After having seen what some others have to say about it, I am clearly in the minority but that doesn’t mean I won’t give my opinion.  While Bourne Ultimatum is ultimately well made, to me there was all too much a feeling of been there done that in this flick.   It struggles to find it’s own footing relying too much on the past films to carry it.

Throughout the whole film it continuously made homages to the first two films – the cutting of the on-the-run female’s hair, the floating body of Jason Bourne, the obligatory car chase sequence, and even the echoing of dialogue when Bourne quotes the Professor, saying “Look at us.  Look at what they make us give!”

It works in that the film actually feels like a continuing story, especially given how much they intercut between the ending of two and the story of three.  So in that fashion it’s good, but unfortunately it also leads to it being more of the Bourne Redundancy.

Matt Damon is his usual Bourneness which is a good thing.  Joan Allen’s Landy is good as well.  Newcomers to the franchise David Straitharn and Albert Finney are their usual solid selves, but I just wish they had some new material to work with.

I mean basically it’s the same thing.

Bad thing happens to Bourne to bring Bourne back into action.

Bourne spends entire film on the run from the CIA and assorted agencies.

Bourne plays cat and mouse and defeats everything the CIA sends at him while he tracks down something that will exonerate him or teach him about his past.

Bourne gets what he needs and gets away at the end.

That is the plot summary for all 3 Bourne movies.  And in an even more redundant way, much like Return of the Jedi brought back the Death Star, Ultimatum has Blackbriar – more powerful than the first dreaded Treadstone.

That being said, the film is well done.  The cinematography is phenomenal, and the action sequences even if they seemed redundant were still exciting enough.  The score does it’s job without being specatular, and the intrigue is only slightly less intriguing.

The inclusion of Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons also scored a double edged sword from me.  I like Stiles, I liked the character, but her inclusion in this film seemed awkward and forced as in they wanted to get her in at any cost.

Overall it was an enjoyable way to spend an evening…I just thought I had seen everything before.  Good thing I had liked what I had seen previously.  If there is to be a fourth, I hope they can find a way to spice up the formula a bit.

C+

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