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Once again Jason Bourne has lived up to the expectations.  When the Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy, the first two installments of this trilogy, hit theaters, viewers were held in captivation by the amazingly unbelievable action throughout the movie.  From the moment we were introduced to Jason Bourne, an amnesiac trying to find his identity, we were instantly drawn in.  All those who were amazed by the first two movies held high standards for the final journey Bourne would take us through.  The Bourne Ultimatum blew those standards out of the water.  Director Paul Greengrass and his talented leading actor Matt Damon and actress Julia Stiles more than impressed the audience. It was more riveting and fascinating than any movie of its kind.  Claudia Puig of USA Today quoted the last installment as “…The best action thriller of the year”. 

From the moment Jason Bourne was pulled out of the ocean with no memory of whom he was, he was fighting for his life.  Bourne, an expert in killing, is being sought after by the CIA.  Everyone wants Bourne dead, and he has no idea why.  As his fractured memory slowly comes back to him in pieces, he finds out that he was an assassin for the government.  He still doesn’t know why the government did this to him, why they want him dead, and who he really is.  All Bourne really wants are answers but with hit men trying to kill him at every corner of all different countries, he is forced to go through serious measures.  When The Bourne Ultimatum starts off, Bourne is in Moscow again still seeking answers.  Moving through different countries to find what he is looking for, he is faced with more gun fires and even more highly trained CIA hit men.  In an effort to cover up CIA illegal practices and keep Bourne quiet, they are pulling out all the big guns, but Bourne, like always, is two steps ahead of them.  He’s been on this exciting non stop journey and now it’s finally time to come home and discover who he is.

The Bourne movies are unquestionably worthy of the good praise they received but the last one was extremely jaw dropping.  The writers, Robert Ludlum,Tony Gilroy, Paul Attanasio, Tom Stoppard, Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi did an outstanding job with this script.  At every corner there’s a new turn or twist for Bourne.  From the first few minutes with Bourne we got captivated and all the way from then to now we have been loyal to Jason Bourne.  The script keeps us wanting more, never providing a moment, not even a second, of disinterest.   Of course we are extremely interested; Jason Bourne is going to finally find out who he really is.  The ending’s twist puts a nice cap on the trilogy.  The sounds in this movie are absolutely astounding.  The music plays a key part to the movie’s suspense scenes.  The sound effects are terrific whether there are cars crashing, bombs exploding, glass shattering, sirens or the impact of hand to hand combat.  The sound effects added a sweet touch to every scene making it come to life.

Once again the directing skills of Greengrass amazed us.  The first movies action scenes had everyone in awe, and it just got better with every movie after.  The Bourne Ultimatums action scenes still have the, “Oh my God, did that just happen??!!” effect to them.    The stunts are brilliant and director Greengrass hit the nail on the head by using hand held cameras to capture these exciting scenes.  Bourne’s rooftop chase in Tangier was magnificent.  On foot he quickly moved from building to building by jumping the roofs, He went crashing through windows to catch the CIA assassin.

When the assassin is caught there is a highly impressive hand to hand combat scene between the two.  The extremely intense two-minute fighting scene ends with Bourne choking the sniper to death in the bathroom corner.  

The most exhilarating scene has to be the car chase with yet another sniper.  The hand held cameras made the chase extremely more effective.  Metal scraping, cars crashing, sirens blaring, guns firing and driving off of the rooftop backwards: Jason Bourne never lets us down.  The 3 minute chase ends with a rail grind with the back half of Bourne’s car that is no doubt thrilling to watch.

Matt Damon as Jason Bourne has really made a name for himself as an actor.  He was previously knows as a sweet charming actor from Good Will Hunting with boyish good looks, but he has transformed into Jason Bourne, the living breathing weapon.  Bourne plays this part very well, little emotion can be pulled form his physical expressions but behind his no-nonsense expression, we can see the damaged man searching for answers.  The tone in Bourne’s voice lets you feel what he’s feeling and lets you know just how determined he is.  Not many actors can make you feel all these raw emotions just by the tone in their voice but I’d say Matt Damon is right on the money. This is by far Matt Damon’s best acting.

Although I personally think this movie is great, many find flaws with it.  The story line has said to be somewhat hard to follow.  Bourne is seen in one country in one scene then is in another moments later.  There isn’t really a smooth transition from country to country.  Some tend to get a little lost because of all this jumping around but I think the director made it this way so that the movie isn’t dragged on.  If each transition from country to country was dragged out the movie would lose its edge and suspense.  Another issue that people have a hard time with is the fact that Bourne somehow has an unlimited amount of money.  He can also enter and exit closed buildings without any one noticing him.  But the fact of the matter is that Bourne is a highly trained CIA assassin, so naturally he would know how to escape without being noticed.

Some viewers have found one particular flaw with this movie.  Some dislike the hand held cameras. Other movies like the Blair witch project and the recent Cloverfield have had similar camera usage.  The hand held camera footage from Bourne Ultimatum is nothing like that of the other two movies; it is way more organized and controlled.  Watching this film doesn’t make you want to throw up like watching Cloverfield did to many viewers.  In such other movies the entire movie was filmed with hand held cameras but in this movie only parts are done in such manner.  Although I can see why this camera view can be disliked considering the shakiness, I think it is very important to the scenes in the movie and helps them seem more realistic. With the handheld cameras you feel like your in the scene and you get all the motions up close.  Although some parts of the movie seem a little bit un realistic, which is simply artistic license, the scenes with the hand helds look realistic.  These flaws are only minor in the grand scheme of things.

The Bourne journey is over but it was one hell of an adventure.  The Bourne Ultimatum is the best action thriller of the year. This movie sets standards for other thriller action movies.  Matt Damon is on top of his a game with this one.  All the aspects of the movie are superb.  The sound effects are top notch and the major action scenes are heart pounding.  If you haven’t seen it yet go see it now! Two thumbs up to Paul Greengrass and his entire cast and crew.  This last installment to the set didn’t let us down.

Works Cited:

1. Paul Greengrass, The Bourne Ultimatum. Universal Pictures. 2007

2. PETER TRAVERS. “Bourne Ultimatum.” Rolling Stone. August 2 2007.     April 23 2008.

<http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/15800687/review/15747167/bourne_ultimatum>

3. Claudia Puig. “‘Bourne Ultimatum’ delivers the ultimate thrill.” USA Today.  April 23 2008.

< http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2007-08-01-bourne-ultimatum_N.htm>

Pictures:

1. Mikelwhite20. Bourne-ultimatum-movie-poster.  November 8 2007.  April 23 2008  
2. < http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2083171230101051333uikVXx>
3. Rebecca Murray. “The Bourne Ultimatum” Movie Photo Gallery.  Universal Pictures. May 5 2008    <http://movies.about.com/od/thebourneultimatum/ig/Bourne-Ultimatum-Photos/index.01.htm>

Videos:

1. ssn8r. “Bourne Ultimatum fighting scene.” You Tube. February 22 2008. April 23 2008. < http://youtube.com/watch?v=5guguJA-AVA>
2. jaspreetsinghkullar. “The Bourne Ultimatum (best action scene).” You Tube. April 7 2008. April 23 2008. < http://youtube.com/watch?v=bnNROMKlJlA>