Saturday, August 11, 2007

The Bourne Ultimatum

This morning I saw The Bourne Ultimatum, starring Matt Damon and Julia Stiles.

This was definitely the best film of the trilogy. The first one lacked sentiment, the second one was simply a 'setup' device for the third, but this one had everything: action, suspense, drama, comedy and heart.

The heart is what really sets it apart from its predecessors.

In a very brief, yet pivotal scene, Nicky (Stiles) conveys more love for Bourne (Damon) than Marie (Franke Potente) did in either of the two movies. A twist I (and hopefully the rest of the audience) didn't see coming.

And while their 'love' story is never defined, her loyalty to him essentially saves him and vice versa.

Another standout in the film is David Strathairn as Noah Vosen, a bitter government big shot hell bent on burying Bourne and anyone who stands in his way from doing so. He's pitch perfect in this role because he's evil without being menacing and makes it easy for you to side with the assassin.

This film is also less dizzying than part two and the story moves at a more comfortable pace (read: I didn't feel like throwing up because of the camera work in this one).

My only gripe would be that it had a wink of an ending that almost begs for The Bourne Resurrection.

Let's hope they just let sleeping assassins lie.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice Review.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you. I think The Bourne Ultimatum is the best of the bunch. Although, I did enjoy the Bourne Supremacy immensely. Just watching him fight a guy with a rolled up magazine was worth the price of admission. The first one is still good, but now seems almost child-like in comparison to the final (hopefully) installment.