The Bourne Ultimatum

UK Release Date. 17 August 2007
Certification. 12A
Running Time. 1 hour 55 mins
Director. Paul Greengrass
Cast. Joan Allen, Paddy Considine, Matt Damon, Albert Finney, Scott Glenn, Edgar Ramirez, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn.

Rating. 74%

Review.

The Bourne Ultimatum picks up what appears to be a few weeks after the events of The Bourne Supremacy as CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) reports her findings of the Treadstone investigation to members of the CIA hierarchy, including Director Ezra Kramer (Scott Glenn) and CIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen (David Strathairn).

Visually, stylistically and dramatically, The Bourne Ultimatum and The Bourne Supremacy are almost identical; equally, there's no appreciable difference in quality. Paul Greengrass once again directs, alongside Director of Photography Oliver Wood, Editor Christopher Rouse and Composer John Powell, reprising many of the themes and cues from the previous films. This gives The Bourne Ultimatum a genuine sense of continuity.

The plot is lean and, as you might expect, the continuation and conclusion of the storyline from the previous two films. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is gradually piecing together the truth about who he really is. 

It is hard to believe, but Paul Greengrass may have even elevated the intensity of the action set pieces beyond that of those in The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy. By way of an example, consider the tension created in the meeting of the journalist Simon Ross (Paddy Considine) at Waterloo Station, or the explosive sequence in Tangiers, which culminates in a frenetic cat-and-mouse pursuit and perhaps the most brutal hand-to-hand combat sequence of the entire trilogy. What’s astonishing about both of these sequences is that they must eat up at least ten minutes of precious screen time, yet they’re so edgy, so thrilling, so exhilarating that the time flies by. Pacing and editing are key, alongside the remarkable camera work. 

In a summer that saw a variety of traditional Hollywood action films - Die Hard 4.0: Live Free Or Die Hard, Transformers, and Rush Hour 3, The Bourne Ultimatum stood out as an entirely different breed of film. Sophisticated and intelligent, The Bourne Ultimatum has a European flavour not just because of the filming locations, but even more so because of its sensibility. In The Bourne Ultimatum, characters are more important than explosions, and that in and of itself is a fairly radical notion in mainstream Hollywood. 

Rarely is there a trilogy where all three films are fantastic. Most sequels tend to spin off into tangents and sub-plot mediocrity. Whether by design or from the outset, the original three films in the franchise feel very much like they were always designed as a trilogy, as if the plan was that way all along. The result - the Jason Bourne trilogy is as gripping in the final frame of The Bourne Ultimatum as it is in the opening of The Bourne Identity. That alone is an amazing feat of writing, production, direction and acting.