The Bourne Ultimatum

I got hooked on the Bourne franchise pretty much with the first movie. The Bourne Identity holds the honor of being the first DVD I ever purchased, and when The Bourne Supremacy hit the theaters in 2004, I was very excited (and pleased with the results). It's now been three years since Jason Bourne last graced the big screen, so I anticipated The Bourne Ultimatum with simply the expectation that I'd enjoy it, plain and simple—though admittedly, I didn't have a clue where they could take the story line after the second movie.

The first thing that naturally came to mind, given that this is a conclusion to a trilogy, was whether or not you'd have to see the first two Bourne films in order to understand this one. That always grinds my gears a little bit, because I believe that, even if you are working with a trilogy or saga, each installment should be able to stand firmly on its own. Take, for example, the Rocky franchise. Each movie is more or less standalone, and not hampered by the necessity to see the previous films first. Here with The Bourne Ultimatum, elements of the previous films do show up, but director Paul Greengrass was gracious enough to flash back to their corresponding scenes in Identity and Supremacy for those not yet familiar with those films.

The Bourne Ultimatum begins in Moscow—and given the bent-up physical shape that Bourne's in at first, it quickly becomes clear that these scenes take place immediately after the slam-bang car chase through Moscow at the end of Supremacy. Logistically this would make sense, because at the end of Supremacy, Bourne apologizes to a young Russian girl whose father he'd killed as his first assignment. So in a repentant mode, he now looks (at the beginning of Ultimatum) to discover who set the Treadstone project in motion, and in the process, set things right with his creators.

At the same time, he stumbles upon British spy reporter Simon Ross, who's discovered a top-secret CIA project called Blackbriar (which was actually mentioned very briefly in the first film, when Abbott was telling a Congressional budget panel that Treadstone had essentially been decommissioned). The discovery of Blackbriar brings Ross to the attention of CIA deputy director Noah Vosen (David Strathairn), who sends in Treadstone agents to kill Ross. Jason Bourne manages to intercept Ross at Waterloo Station in London, but is unable to save him despite a very exciting cat-and-mouse game that brilliantly showcases Bourne's survival instincts. And when Vosen sees Bourne enter the mix, he's understandably thrown for a loop. In the hopes of finding out Bourne's involvement with Ross, Vosen decides to bring in Pamela Landy (Joan Allen), the local Bourne expert from the previous Bourne installment. Thus, the search for Jason Bourne begins.

Greengrass's trademark visuals from The Bourne Supremacy flowed right into Ultimatum, most notably the handheld-camera action/fight sequences. They weren't received very well in Supremacy (even though I found it to be an intriguing approach—his whole "make the audience a part of the action" motif), but here in Ultimatum, I think it worked very well! The principal fight scene takes place in Tangiers, where Nikki (the always-hot Julia Stiles) and Jason are first trailing a Blackbriar turncoat who's been targeted by Treadstone . . . then they themselves become the targets after trying to help the mark. This results in a rather long foot chase through the streets of Tangiers for Nikki, followed by a rooftop chase for Jason, culminating in an apartment fight that's very reminiscent of the Paris apartment fight in Identity—only 10 times more intense! Here, the jerky-quick camera shots made the apartment fight so much more intense, so much more edge-of-your-seat, so much more angry and furious . . . so much more realistic, in my opinion. And as in all previous Bourne films, there's a fabulous car chase midway through the film. Though instead of Paris or Moscow, this car chase goes through New York, with equally as much carnage left in its wake (personally, I thought the Moscow car chase in Supremacy was the best one).

Speaking of Nikki, her entrance into the film was rather unexpected, and came at something of an inopportune time, I think. For a brief time, too, I was beginning to wonder if she was going to stand in, as it were, for Marie (Bourne's girlfriend from the first two films)—though that thankfully didn't come to fruition. Nikki's character did serve the plot well, though, for she had been part of Jason's mission from the beginning, and was really one of the last people to help Jason Bourne discover his origins and his true identity . . . and in the process, she herself learns a terrible lesson in how quickly loyalties can change in this business.

If I had one problem with The Bourne Ultimatum, it would be in the casting choices, because a few were a bit mixed in my opinion. All of the major characters from the previous installments returned for Ultimatum, but added to the mix were Albert Finney and Scott Glenn—both of whom I felt were underutilized. Scott Glenn played the director of the CIA, who really only served as a fall guy from whom to deter accountability for Blackbriar. And Albert Finney's role as Jason Bourne's original trainer could have been expanded a good bit more. As much as I liked this film, I really felt that his character was thrown together without the depth that it obviously necessitated—particularly for someone as essential as Jason Bourne's creator. Matt Damon, as always, was fabulous as Bourne. As was Joan Allen as Pamela Landy—though I do admit, she did have to grow on me from Supremacy onward (I don't admit to being much of a Joan Allen fan). David Strathairn, though, was absolutely fabulous as the high-up CIA man with dark agendas and dangerous secrets. He did his damndest to keep Landy in the dark about Blackbriar, skillfully maneuvered around her politically, and exuded desperate determination to bring Bourne down at all costs. In the process, many of today's hot-button political issues rose to the surface, like warrantless wiretapping, but Ultimatum flirted with them only briefly. Though it was nevertheless a fabulous performance by Strathairn.

Also, about halfway through the film, I noticed something unexpected: I don't know if it was deliberate recycling or just Greengrass poking fun at himself and the Bourne franchise, but quite a lot of scenes mirrored (if not directly duplicated!) scenes from the previous Bourne installments! For example:

• Nikki washing and coloring her hair was very reminiscent of Marie doing the same in a Paris apartment in Identity
• Nikki and Jason have a late-night diner scene that eerily resembles another late-night diner scene from Identity
• Jason pays a visit to Marie's brother and breaks the news of her death, very much mirroring Jason's "apology" to the Russian daughter in Supremacy
• The final scene of Supremacy, where Landy and Bourne are on the phone and she, as a kind gesture, starts to tell him about who he used to be, was incorporated into the final act of Ultimatum
• Jason's final line of dialogue, where he looks over at the Treadstone agent who has Jason in his sights: "Look at this . . . look at what they make you give." Those were the exact same lines spoken by Clive Owen's Professor in Identity as he lay dying in a French cornfield
• And I didn't even notice this at first, but Ultimatum's closing scene brings the series full circle: the shot of Jason floating in the waters of the East River mirrors the opening shot of Identity, when he's found wounded in the middle of the Mediterranean

I'm not going to give away the ending here, but let me just say this: Greengrass really pulled out all the stops with The Bourne Ultimatum, so much so that I truly began to wonder just how far some of these characters would go to attain their objectives. Compared to the previous two films, Ultimatum was surprisingly dark! And as the final few minutes drew closer and closer, I began to ponder several unthinkable scenarios, all leaving me with nail-biting tension as the final seconds ticked out: is Nikki going to die? Is Pamela Landy going to be killed à la Conklin? Will Noah Vosen go the way of Ward Abbott when pushed up against the wall? And most of all . . . will Jason Bourne himself die?

I think Paul Greengrass is now forever linked with the Bourne film franchise, even though it was started by Doug Liman. As to which director was better, I really can't say. Liman created something extraordinary with The Bourne Identity, and Greengrass brought some new elements to the franchise while still remaining true to Liman's original vision.

I'm very tempted to give this a 10, but again, some of the acting choices didn't sit well with me. Plus, the recycling of scenes felt a bit unnecessary, despite whatever playful intentions Greengrass had. That being said, I still rate this a strong 9, and a very worthy conclusion to the trilogy (provided, of course, they don't adapt the "ghost writer" Bourne stories that some fiction authors have continued).