In 2002, The Bourne Identity came out of nowhere to become a surprise hit and made Matt Damon an unlikely action star. I saw the movie in the theater and own the DVD. I went to see the second movie to feature Jason Bourne, The Bourne Supremacy, in the theater when it came out in 2004. I've been wanting to see The Bourne Ultimatum, ever since I heard it was being made.

In discussing The Bourne Ultimatum I will mention things that would be spoilers for people who haven’t seen the first two movies. I am not including anything that would be a spoiler for this movie. I will put a warning before I briefly talk about the plot for this movie. The second and third movie definitely built on what had happened previously, so I don’t think it would be good for people to start with this movie. The movies really need to be watched in order for everything to make sense.

In The Bourne Identity, Jason Bourne was discovered near death floating in the ocean. He had amnesia and slowly started to learn that he had been a trained assassin. He managed to find some semblance of peace with Marie, but unfortunately that was short lived when something went very wrong in the second movie. Jason was once again on the run while discovering more about his past.

**Minor Plot Discussion**
People that would prefer not to know anything specific about the plot should skip this part.

Jason started to have flashbacks while he was on the run in Russia. He managed to get away and he decided to focus on finding answers about his past. He encountered Nicky Parsons again, a CIA agent, and she did some things to help him. Bourne’s search took him across several countries before he arrived in the United States. He continued to have more flashbacks and he started to slowly piece things together.

Noah Vosen, another CIA agent, got into the search because he was worried about exactly what Jason knew. Pamela Landy was brought in to work with Noah in trying to find Jason even though she had changed what she thought about Jason. Pamela had different ideas on how certain situations should be dealt with and wasn’t happy with Noah’s methods which caused them to clash more than once.

**End of Minor Plot Discussion**

All three of the Bourne movies have been based on books of the same name by Robert Ludlum. I own the first two books but have only read the first one. There were several changes for the first movie, but it kept the main point of the book. Even though I haven’t read the second book yet, I know that basically nothing from that book made it into the movie. I’m still very unhappy with what was done with Marie. I have read the blurb on the back of the third book several times and because of that, I’ve known for a long time that if a third movie was made, it wasn’t going to have the same plot either. I know that things have to be changed from books when movies are made. I just don’t know why something that impacted both the second and third book had to be changed so drastically. From what I know about the third book, only the title and the fact that a character had the name of Jason Bourne made it into the movie from the book.

When The Bourne Ultimatum started, Jason was on the run in Russia. After a minute or two I figured out that it was supposed to be shortly after some events from The Bourne Supremacy, but before the final scene in that movie. The majority of this movie took place before the last scene in that movie. When I first saw the trailers for this movie, I had wondered how things were going to connect in since it had seemed like there was some closure for one thing at least with the final scene of the second movie. It was a little different with the way the plot of this one fit in with the second movie, but I thought it worked and I really didn’t have trouble figuring out the timing.

There were several scenes in The Bourne Ultimatum that connected back to similar scenes in the first movie. That could bother some people and make them feel like this movie wasn’t original enough. I thought those parts worked and helped to show the connection between all three movies. Jason was dealing with several memories throughout the movie. Some were connected to Marie and some were bits of his past slowly starting to come back. The flashbacks and memories were effectively used. I did like that Nicky and Pamela were back, though Nicky didn’t have much to do yet again. I do feel like there were unanswered questions about her. I would hope they would be addressed if there is a fourth movie. Something was briefly hinted at without a full explanation being given. I think there were a few possible explanations that could work even though things from the previous movies could contradict both of them. That is something else I would like cleared up if another movie is made. The same music that I know was in the first movie - and I think it was also used in the second movie - played at the end of this movie.

Jason was involved in several fight scenes throughout The Bourne Ultimatum. Jason had very impressive fighting skills that seemed to kick in like second nature even though he couldn’t remember how he knew those things. Jason did use a gun at times, but most of the time he relied on his hands and whatever he could grab. The fight scenes were good, though I think they could have been better - I’ll get to why in just a minute. There were also a few well done chase scenes used. In one, Jason started off on a motorcycle, taking it places that motorcycles normally don’t go before he started racing across roof tops and jumping from building to building through windows. Later in the movie, he was in a car chase in which he used more than one vehicle, completely wrecking them. Jason did get hurt, but he kept going and walked away from things that should have seriously injured him at least if not killed him. I didn’t think the violence was too extreme or graphic, though some people may feel different. The movie did deserve the PG-13 rating and this really isn’t one for young children.

One of the biggest problems I had with The Bourne Supremacy was the horrible shaky camera work that made it all but impossible to tell what was going on in certain scenes. I hate when directors go that route, so I was a bit disappointed when I found out that Paul Greengrass was returning to direct this one. Call me crazy, but when I go to a movie, I actually like to be able to tell what the heck is going on without getting dizzy from the camera spinning around like it was on an out of control merry go round. I also don’t like it when the camera is bouncing all over the place. Once again during some of the action scenes, it was difficult to follow exactly what was going on. It was slightly better since both men weren’t wearing all black like happened in the second movie, but I still had trouble telling exactly what was going on. The action was a giant blur, making it difficult for me to tell what was going on at times. At one point, Jason was using a hardback book that I have no idea where it came from. In other scenes when there was no action, the camera was just moving too much. It was almost always panning around or cutting to different angles. All the camera motion was enough to cause dizziness. I would much prefer it if the camera was steady so I could tell what was going on. I really would love to be able to tell Paul Greengrass to learn how to hold the camera still.

The Bourne Ultimatum was focusing on Jason’s search for who he really was, which caused him to be hunted by the CIA yet again. The plot really wasn’t that different from the first two movies which could bother some people hoping for something new or more original. I thought the plot worked and fit in well with the first two movies. Jason was the main character and more of his past was shared. He had been an assassin and he’d killed several people during the three years he’d been on the run but he still had his own sense of what was right and wrong. Jason was very inventive and smart, figuring out how to get out of what seemed like impossible situations. I thought that Matt Damon was very good in the part.

There were only three returning characters in this movie. Of those three, only Jason and Nicky have been in all three of the movies. Nicky hasn’t had a large part in any of the movies though I think she was in a little more of this movie. Nicky did help Jason and seemed important. Her part did end up being smaller than I had thought it would be before seeing the movie. I thought that Julia Stiles was fine in the part. Pamela was the only other returning character, having been a major character in the second movie. She was still important in this movie but her part was a bit smaller. She didn’t seem as cold and detached and I thought she was much more likable in this movie. Joan Allen was very good in the part.

Noah Vosen was another agent in the CIA. He was in charge of certain operations and he was willing to go to extreme measures to protect them. He would order a kill first and then ask questions. David Strathairn was very good in the part. Ezra Kramer, the head of the CIA, turned up briefly in a few scenes so Scott Glenn didn’t have that much to do. Albert Finney also made a small appearance as Dr. Albert Hirsch, a man that was connected to what was going on. A few other characters were briefly used throughout the movie.

Main Cast

Joan Allen - Pamela Landy
Matt Damon - Jason Bourne
Scott Glenn - Ezra Kramer
Julia Stiles - Nicky Parsons
David Strathairn - Noah Vosen

Paul Greengrass - Director

The Bourne Ultimatum was a very entertaining action movie. I really enjoyed it even though I hated all the shaky camera work. People that enjoyed The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy should give this one a chance.

By the way, the short teaser trailer for The Dark Knight was very cool even though it really didn't share that much.

Bourne Movies
The Bourne Identity ~ The Bourne Supremacy ~ The Bourne Ultimatum ~

Matt Damon Movie Reviews
The Brothers Grimm ~ The Departed ~ Ocean's Eleven ~ Ocean's Twelve ~ Ocean's Thirteen ~

Recommended: Yes