The Bourne Ultimatum: Dave's Review
Dave's Score: 9/10
Wow. That's really all I can say after getting out of The Bourne Supremacy. It figures that I would pick a movie this good for our first review back at ScreenGeeks. I am about to make a bold statement. The Bourne Ultimatum is the best conclusion to a trilogy this summer. Beyond that, this gives you all the action that Live Free or Die Hard gave you but with a better story and some actual substance.
The Bourne Ultimatum picks what appears to be a few weeks after the events of The Bourne Supremacy and gives you about a minute to figure that out before throwing you head first into the first of its many action sequences. Bourne is still on his quest to find out who he is, who made him who he is and why. The story takes you on what is quite possibly the ride of the summer in terms of plot and suspense.
The performances were great all around. Matt Damon, for all the ribbing he gets from us as a result of Team America, is truly showing that he is an amazing actor. He let Linus be so very uncomfortable trying to seduce Ellen Barkin's character that you felt it with him in Ocean's 13. Well, Jason Bourne knows exactly what he's doing and the way he guides people to keep them from getting killed will keep you on the edge of your seat. In what could have been a completely throw-away performance, Julia Stiles gave the character of Nikki depth and feeling. There's a scene with her and Bourne sitting in a cafe and you could tell that she had a ton of baggage about Jason, and you could feel her heart break when he didn't remember what she was talking about. David Strathairn and Joan Allen were great supporting characters and I loved the way that Albert Finney played his role.
If I'm loving everything about this movie, there must be a reason why it isn't a 9.5 or even possibly a 10. Well, I hate to admit this, but the shaky-cam was just used far too much for its own good. Paul Greengrass did an outstanding job filming not only the obscenely cool action sequences, but also the more intimate scenes. I'm not one given to motion-sickness, but there was one scene where I actually felt just a touch queezy. About half of the shaky-cam was used very effectively and I felt brought a realism to the scenes. The rest seemed to be used just because it would be easier than a good crane shot or a steadycam shot. I think a happy medium could have been found and this film would have been just about perfect.
In the end, the Bourne Ultimatum delivers in every single way. There were a couple of small details left out, but they add depth to the characters and the story. I know that Damon has gone on record as saying this is the last movie. If this is the case, I want to meet Mr. Damon some day and shake his hand for letting an amazing trilogy stand on its own and take their place in history as some of the best action films ever. The filmmakers wrap up all the loose ends in a very satisfactory way and find a way to keep it from feeling hokey or rushed. All I can say to all who were involved in this movie is Bravo!
