Paul Greengrass' The Bourne Ultimatum

by Kathryn Durfee
08/05/2007

I was promised there would be shooting. Lots of shooting. I was misinformed, but that's only because I had forgotten that shooting isn't really Bourne's style. Unlike most action/thriller characters, Jason Bourne isn't dead set on killing everyone in his path; he only wants to find out who he is. If only all these pesky assassins would just let him be, or I don't know, tell him what's going on?

The Bourne Ultimatum, the third installment in the Bourne series based on the books by Robert Ludlum, opened as the number one movie this weekend with $70.2 million at the box office, the biggest August opening ever. Directed by Paul Greengrass, the director of The Bourne Supremacy and United 93, Ultimatum was shot in Berlin, London, New York, Madrid, Tangier, Paris, Riga (Latvia), and Washington D.C.

Sit tight, because there are as many motives as fists flying around in these movies. Rogue assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is still being hunted by those in the CIA that trained him. He is still suffering from amnesia, but bits and pieces of his memory are coming back, and he is desperately trying to discover the truth about his identity. Bourne comes out of hiding to contact a journalist that has been following his story. He holds valuable information about Treadstone, the project that produced CIA-trained assassins, including our very own hero.

This is very inconvenient for government official Noah Vosen (David Strathairn), who is attempting to rejuvenate Treadstone under the name Blackbriar. You can't start a new program with living proof of the last one still on the loose. In order to reign Bourne in, Vosen contacts Pamela Landy (Joan Allen), the Bourne expert. Likewise, he sets out to dispose of the journalist with all the facts and contacts. In addition to Landy, one of the last Treadstone assassins is dispatched to get rid of Bourne.

As it turns out, going home isn't that easy. In order to uncover the truth about his identity and past, Bourne must outwit and evade a deadly group of highly-trained agents and assassins. Luckily for Bourne, there are people trying to help him. Landy plays the good cop to Vosen's bad here, and Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) returns to lend Bourne a hand. There's a hint at romance here; do Bourne and Parsons have a history? There are more than a few loose ends left at the conclusion of the third film, providing an opening for an additional installment in the series.

Bourne is the American James Bond. They even have the same initials! Coincidence? I think not. Bourne is able to arrive at obscure geographical locations precisely when he needs to, can turn anything into a weapon, is a highly-skilled driver (as an Atlanta-trained driver, I admire his gusto in getting out of parking decks and through tight traffic), and does everything with style. This film finds him being chased through London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, Tangier, and Turin. If nothing else, being a rogue assassin seems to rack up the sky miles.

Now, the other thing I had forgotten about the Bourne series since my last viewing is the camera work. Almost every scene is shot with a hand-held camera. Even the aerial shots appear to have been done with a camera on a bungee cord. There are many shots in which it is difficult to determine which way is up. Thus, sitting in the third row of the theater resulting in a slight case of motion sickness. The only long shots in the film serve to illustrate that all the madness unfolding before us is real. Well, "real" in the sense that the stunts are continuous, not merely spliced together in the editing room.

If nothing else, the Bourne trilogy has proven to be a showcase for camera work and editing in modern action movies. The pace never slackens, and you barely have time to think before the shot changes to a new international location. Even though you can't believe that this character could be real (jumping over rooftops and taking on groups of armed men and whatnot), you form a genuine attachment to him and his quest. In fact, the trilogy as a whole is an invaluable example of how to construct an efficient and effective action series. The action, performances, and stunts have remained at constant (high) levels. There's no sign of bloated sequel syndrome, which unfortunately infected many other series this summer like a bad case of scurvy. Whoops, was that out loud?

Smart dialogue, fast editing, unbelievable car chases, and complicated characters all make The Bourne Ultimatum the best action/thriller of the year. Though you may feel as though you've spent two hours in a paint shaker, the rush felt when Moby's "Extreme Ways" begins to play at the end and the satisfaction with the handling of the trilogy by all involved will surpass any lingering nausea.