The Bourne Ultimatum Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)August 3rd, 2007
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2007 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
After the absolutely exhilarating first two Bourne movies, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM is a definite disappointment. Coming from the more-is-more school of action filmmaking, director Paul Greengrass seems to think that chases and car crashes should go on forever, even if they are tediously repetitive.
One long sequence in the film has agent Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) hopping across what feels like thousands of identical rooftops, as he attempts to save the canonical damsel in distress, Julia Stiles in a throwaway role as Nicky Parsons, while a generic killer is working hard to kill her. As Bourne jumps from rooftop to rooftop and crashes through one apartment window and door after another, the audience is eventually ready to cry uncle -- or, in the case of our packed audience, ready to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.
Although THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM starts off intentionally confusing, once the story is explained, it becomes obvious why we are initially kept in the dark, since the plot is paper thin and somewhat of a replay of the first two Bourne films.
Bourne is either "the source" or is going after "the source," we are told. Eventually we find out the story is the classic one of a spy whose handlers are ready to kill him and all of their other spies in a massive cover-up of a black ops program. It's a completely implausible story that has been told a hundred times before.
The many action set pieces are fun. It's just that they are all so similar. And, when the movie isn't running, crashing, fighting or shooting, the overly snappy dialog is sometimes cute but way too cheesy: "Give me eyeballs on the street," "Sit down, strap in and turn on everything you've got," and "Go in heavy." Plus, for an action picture, there are way too many moments where the film drags considerably.
Sometimes in movies overly dramatic music is used to create emotions when the script and the actors aren't able to. Similarly directors use cheap tricks like shakycams, abusive use of fast zooms and microsecond editing to create dramatic tension when the script is lame or ineffective. So it is in THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, a movie certain to induce motion sickness in many viewers. You can create the same effect in your home movies by turning off your camcorder's image stabilization while shaking your hands to create the effect of ocean waves. Movies are never improved by these techniques, but some inherently good films aren't hurt too much by them, even if watching them can make you queasy.
Typical of the story's scenes is one set in London, where we learn that the ever-present and all-powerful CIA has dozens of heavily armed men within five minutes of any spot in question. The CIA is also able to instantly grab control of every camera in town and listen in on any given cell phone. Noah Vosen (David Strathairn), who runs the black ops program in question, is not only willing to kill every one of his own agents, but he is also ready to murder British citizens without a second thought.
More like an amusement park ride than a movie, the film does have its pleasures, but going around and around in the same loop eventually becomes little more than tiring. If you do go to see this thinly scripted and very repetitive action film, bring your seasickness pills.
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM runs 1:53. It is rated PG-13 for "violence and intense sequences of action" and would be acceptable for kids around 12 and up.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, August 3, 2007. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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