The Bourne Ultimatum (2007): A Believable Spy Film That Will Knock Your Socks Off
Written: Aug 04 '07 (Updated Aug 06 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A great story which grows in suspense very well.
Cons: Possibly a little too fast or too violent for some viewers.
The Bottom Line: If you are after hard-nosed, action-packed entertainment, here it is.
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| Ed.Williamson's Full Review: The Bourne Ultimatum |
The Bourne Ultimatum is probably the best action film of 2007 (so far), and if great entertainment is what you're after, this one is the summer choice to make. Seeing this film will make you glad you decided to go to the movies. Matt Damon as Jason Bourne just gets better and better every time he does one of these Robert Ludlum thrillers.
One up-front caveat to tell you is this, however: it has up-close-and-personal violence all the way. If you don't like to see a lot of violence and death, this may not be your kind of movie. But if you do like hard-hitting action movies that have a very human story within, and the kind that don't sell out to an overuse of special effects, this one is pretty cool.
The story is about CIA agent Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) who has decided to get out of the spy game. But the CIA won't let him; he knows too much. So Bourne is being tracked down by the very people in the CIA who turned him into an assassin, under the pretext of "saving American lives." Racked with amnesia, and dead-set on unraveling the nature of who he really is, Bourne is flushed out of hiding in Europe in order to connect with a newspaper man named Simon Ross (Paddy Considine), who has been, with the skill of a good investigative reporter, tracking his story. Journalist Ross has found useful information about Bourne and "Treadstone," the CIA sub-agency which has schooled him. And Jason wants it.
A CIA official named Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) can't let Bourne learn anything from Ross. Vosen initiated a program codenamed "Blackbriar" which is the successor to Treadstone. Vosen's solution is to send an "asset", a skilled assassin, to kill Bourne and the journalist Ross before they can share information together. Vosen uses CIA operative Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) who has tracked Bourne before to head up the search for Bourne. At the same time, Vosen sends Paz (Edgar Ramirez) a new "asset" connected with Blackbriar, to kill the two targets before they can talk together.
To follow up on his search for his true identity, Bourne must match wits with the CIA's vast array of human experts in tracking, its assassins, and an incredible array of electronic listening, viewing, and tracking devices.
With intelligence, fighting skills, and finally, the help of some unlikely allies within the CIA, Bourne steadily follows his path backwards into the bowels of the most secretive of the CIA's innards. It is as if Frankenstein's monster suddenly became truly human, and tried to find Doctor Frankenstein and deal him a measure of justice. Borne gets near the core of it all, and discovers some awful truths not only about the organization, but about himself.
The acting in the film is superb. Damon truly understands his role and all of the actors around him support the story with everything they've got. He's strong, but he's also vulnerable. An excellent soundtrack, beautiful cinematography, super stunts, crisp scripting, and finely-timed direction all contribute to an excellent climax to the Bourne trilogy.
As I watched the movie, I couldn't help comparing The Bourne Ultimatum's realism to the less credible spy films in recent memory like the Cruise "Mission Impossible" films. This one is head-and-shoulders above films like that.
Maybe it's because Bourne isn't made out to be a human Superman; he's more like the strong but tender Jack Bauer, whose TV show 24 may have influenced the style of this movie and injected not only a dose of credibility but also the way the suspense is executed.
If action is your game, human stories are more important to you than special effects, and you know a thing or two about paranoia, this will keep you on the edge of your seat. The ending may disturb you. But then again, maybe not.
Five Stars/ *****
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Action Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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Epinions.com ID:
Ed.Williamson
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Member: Ed Williamson
Location: Way Out West, USA
Reviews written: 607
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Fight 'em till Hell freezes over, then fight 'em on the ice!
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