The Bourne Ultimatum (***)
In a summer chock full of “thirds,” Matt Damon (“The Departed”) and director Paul Greengrass (“United 93”, “The Bourne Supremacy”) reteam to give theatergoers the presumably final installment of “The Bourne Trilogy,” based on the novels by Robert Ludlum. Much like “Live Free or Die Hard,” the movie is franticly paced and buoyed CGI-free stunts and action scenes. “The Bourne Ultimatum” is a enjoyable, positive capstone to a largely disappointing summer season.
“Ultimatum” opens right where we left Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) in “The Bourne Supremacy,” in Moscow, Russia, being filmed with Greengrass’ signature style of herky-jerky handheld camera movements. If you’re the type that pukes on amusement park rides, then bring a barf bag to the theater and definitely, for the sake of other patrons, don’t consume a truckload of popcorn and peanut M&Ms.
Bourne, still hunted by the CIA, is drawn out of deep hiding after reading articles regarding him and the covert operation Treadstone in the British newspaper “The Guardian.” It seems what really stokes his ire are misrepresented facts about the death of his girlfriend, Marie (Franka Potente), so after a perfunctory visit to explain the circumstances of her death to her brother in Paris, he sets off to find the writer of the aforementioned newspaper articles, Simon Ross (Paddy Considine).
Bourne and Ross meet in a busy London train terminal and Ross drops several clues to Bourne that will eventually lead him to his true identity, the first and foremost being the name “Blackbriar.” This is unfamiliar to Bourne, but not to Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) who is the leader behind this new, covert CIA outfit, intent on replacing the flawed and failed Treadstone project. Unbeknownst to Bourne and Ross, Vosen’s unit has been listening and watching ever since the mention of “Blackbriar” was picked up in the endless “chatter” listened to by the US government. They track Ross to discover his source, confident they have a traitorous leak in their ranks, and are speechless after they watch from surveillance cameras Bourne dispatch all their agents.
Bourne flees London to Madrid, Spain and keeps having flashbacks of the day he signed up for Treadstone. He sees blurry faces and hears spotty, muted dialogue, but he still doesn’t understand how or why he is the first-class assassin he is now. In Madrid, he seeks out Ross’ CIA informant and crosses paths with Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles). With some past connection we don’t quite understand between Parsons and Bourne, she is intent on helping him discover his past, so she lies to Vosen and Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) about Bourne’s whereabouts and the two cross the Mediterranean Sea to Tangiers to catch Ross’ source before he is snuffed by Vosen’s black ops assassins or “assets.”
In the end, after visiting Russia, Italy, France, England, Spain and Africa, Bourne comes to New York City, where his current reign as uncatchable assassin began. I’ll leave the details of the conclusion out of this article, but I will say it has, like the other two films, a fantastic car chase through the streets of the Big Apple. And the ending is tied up nice and neat, with closure for everyone.
Kudos to Greengrass and the screenwriters for injecting some “real time” homeland security concerns into the fabric of the story. After seeing “The Bourne Ultimatum”, my advice would be to not say “jihad” or “Hilary Rodham Clinton” on your cell phone or emails, or you might have some CIA agents toss a black bag over your head and beat you silly.
Bottom line: “The Bourne Ultimatum” is fast and fun. The fight scenes and car chases are intense and the cast of supporting actors – Allen, Strathairn and Albert Finney – give some texture to a film that could be fluff. Instead, it is a smartly acted, intricately choreographed action movie that is definitely in league with “Transformers,” “Live Free or Die Hard” and “Knocked Up” as the best summer movie.