The Bourne Ultimatum

The Bourne Ultimatum (Matt Damon, David Strathairn, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles) – Perhaps the best of the trilogy of movies based on Robert Ludlum’s intriguingly titled Jason Bourne novels, The Bourne Ultimatum starts with a sequence from the previous movie as Bourne continues to search for his real identity.  By the end of the movie he does.  In the meantime, you have almost two hours of solid action, mayhem, gunplay, and marshal arts.  Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy and United 93) knows action, excitement, and pacing.  He paces this film at breakneck speed with street and rooftop scenes all over Europe and New York.  The addition of David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) gives us a villain within the CIA as an assistant director of the agency and turns Joan Allen’s recurring character, Pamela Landy, into a Bourne ally.  Faced with insurmountable odds, incredible luck, and the ability to withstand (1) vicious car accidents, (2) karate kicks that send him through loads of windows, (3) falls from tops of skyscrapers, and (4) explosive devices, Bourne comes home to find the people who programmed him for a life as a killer.  Matt Damon seems to finally understand this character and has grown physically and chronologically into the part. Julia Stiles, who I really, really like, is still miscast as Nicky Parsons, the CIA underling who was involved with the last Bourne hunt in Berlin.  She helps Bourne and there’s a hint that they had a relationship sometime in Jason’s forgotten past.  Bottom line here, this is a great action picture that will keep you at the edge of your seat and never wanting to check your watch.