Seldom slows, never stops

Combining box office and video sales, the film adaptations of one of Ludlum's most popular series grossed $1 billion even before this movie was released, so to suggest that viewer expectations are high for this third entry in the "Bourne" films would be an understatement. But as with "Supremacy," Paul Greengrass has delivered, and the result is impressive. Take what you've come to expect from the first two films: relatively complex plots; kinetic action sequences; a selective array of dramatic flashbacks - all guided along by excellent performances, extraordinary cinematography and breakneck editing. "Ultimatum" has all of this at a pace that makes that of "Identity" and "Supremacy" feel like the measured deliberation of a Kiyoshi Kurosawa film. The surprises and revelations on tap are also far more rewarding this time around.

If only to set them aside, my few complaints regarding this film really must be mentioned. The first of these pertains to a proliferation of handheld closeup shots. The effect of these feels curiously pretentious and distracts from the intensity of the scenes in question, especially considering that the performances in them are riveting. In a film notable for being such an impressive technical accomplishment, I can't understand why these scenes were shot in such a fashion. The only weak performance of the film is that of Paddy Considine, who plays a hapless English journalist with an unbearably hammy, upholstery-gnawing fervor. All that I can say for Considine is that his performance is slightly less reprehensible than his hair. My last gripe is one that I knew that I'd be expressing before I went into the theater: I really can't abide Moby's asinine "Extreme Ways (Bourne's Ultimatum)," which has played over the end credits of all three films. I knew that this stupid song would be a permanent fixture when it was included in "Supremacy," but that doesn't mean that the witless cueball's reworkings of his aggravating tune aren't becoming increasingly obnoxious. It's also a bit insulting to hear in contrast to John Powell's terrific scores.

Chris Cooper's departure after the first film and Brian Cox's after the second left the shoes of this series' resident authority figure antagonists empty to be filled, and the renowned screen veterans who replace them in this entry - David Strathairn, Scott Glenn and the great Albert Finney - all acquit themselves admirably, as one might expect. Strathairn is especially good as a shrewd section chief; he knows how to portray the character as viciously as possible without slipping into caricature.

The protagonists are no less intriguing. Damon's uneasy familiarity with the titular role makes him perfect for it. He's at once imposing and vulnerable, entirely credible in the role of a hard-bitten character who continually finds himself in extraordinary circumstances. Julia Stiles' continual presence in these films is finally validated; a hint of an intimate relationship between her and Damon's Bourne that may have existed prior to the events of the first film is mentioned but never pursued. It's a novel plot point, and it is deftly conveyed in its' brevity; to see it fleshed out in the context of this film would have made it feel like a rather absurd contrivance. Of course, it's not that the performances of the chipmunk-faced actress in the first two films were lacking. If the screenwriters hadn't eventually provided her character with a great reason to keep involving herself in Bourne's intrigues, her presence would have felt terribly extraneous at this point. A brief moment featuring Stiles that indirectly references the love scene between Damon and Potente in "Identity" is especially effective.

The outstanding appeal of the Bourne films ensured the box office success of this entry. Competent, intelligent action films are a rarity in American cinema; that this series has filled the void is a reasonable explanation for its' success.

This review was first posted to Amazon on August 10, 2007: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1D56YDWB0NL07/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
An uncensored, noncommercial version is available on my blog: http://harkabrazencur.blogspot.com/2007/11/film-review-bourne-ultimatum.html