The Bourne Ultimatum
So now it's time to end this series. However, does Jason Bourne go out with a bang or should it of ended with the previous movie? Let's find out.
We begin by seeing that Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is still on the run from the FBI, led by Noah Vosen (David Strathairn). He's still searching for the last remaining parts of his memory that were lost long ago. He eventually meets Simon Ross (Paddy Considine), a man that he believes might know some information on him, but he is eventually shot down by sniper fire. After some more running and chasing, Bourne eventually meets Pam Landy (Joan Allen) who has some inside information about his past. Through her, he learns about Dr. Albert Hirsch (Albert Finney). However, she doesn't tell him exactly how he's connected to Bourne's past. So now Jason sets out to retrieve the lost memories and figure out who Dr. Hirsch really is.
The action scenes in this movie are just insane. Every second just feels like either a chase or action scene. Even when the characters are just talking, the movie feels like it wants to keep going. It doesn't want to stop for dialogue, even though it knows it needs to. Bourne seemed to save all of his amazing fighting techniques for this movie since he can really kick some serious butt in this movie. No one seems to be able to land a hit on him, no matter how hard they try or what they use as a weapon. As for the story, it's pretty well told. The characters are all interesting and it builds up to the big reveal of Bourne's past, which is almost mind blowing to Jason when he first hears it.
However, not everything can be perfect. While the action scenes were insane, some tended to be a bit too insane. While this would work for other movies, it doesn't quite work with the Bourne series. This series seems to try and portray real life action instead of movie action. They switch it up here and it just makes it look silly. For example, there's a scene where, I kid you not, Bourne drives a car off a two or three story building, the car flips, and he survives without a scratch. I know I should suspend my disbelief when it comes to stuff like this, but the Bourne series didn't seem this silly to me. Also, one of the things that helps the movie feel faster is the overabundance of shaky cam. While this works when Bourne is fighting, it just looks stupid for when he's talking to someone. I felt that the camera man came in drunk that day and just couldn't hold the camera straight. It was kind of embarrassing.
So would I recommend Bourne Ultimatum? If you're a fan of the first two or have at least seen the first two, then yes. It's a good, not great, ending to a wonderful trilogy that has kept fans coming back for years. However, this isn't a great place for newcomers to start since it doesn't really go out of its way to explain the previous films. It's not the movie's fault, it just expects you to have seen the previous movies, which you should.
We begin by seeing that Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is still on the run from the FBI, led by Noah Vosen (David Strathairn). He's still searching for the last remaining parts of his memory that were lost long ago. He eventually meets Simon Ross (Paddy Considine), a man that he believes might know some information on him, but he is eventually shot down by sniper fire. After some more running and chasing, Bourne eventually meets Pam Landy (Joan Allen) who has some inside information about his past. Through her, he learns about Dr. Albert Hirsch (Albert Finney). However, she doesn't tell him exactly how he's connected to Bourne's past. So now Jason sets out to retrieve the lost memories and figure out who Dr. Hirsch really is.
The action scenes in this movie are just insane. Every second just feels like either a chase or action scene. Even when the characters are just talking, the movie feels like it wants to keep going. It doesn't want to stop for dialogue, even though it knows it needs to. Bourne seemed to save all of his amazing fighting techniques for this movie since he can really kick some serious butt in this movie. No one seems to be able to land a hit on him, no matter how hard they try or what they use as a weapon. As for the story, it's pretty well told. The characters are all interesting and it builds up to the big reveal of Bourne's past, which is almost mind blowing to Jason when he first hears it.
However, not everything can be perfect. While the action scenes were insane, some tended to be a bit too insane. While this would work for other movies, it doesn't quite work with the Bourne series. This series seems to try and portray real life action instead of movie action. They switch it up here and it just makes it look silly. For example, there's a scene where, I kid you not, Bourne drives a car off a two or three story building, the car flips, and he survives without a scratch. I know I should suspend my disbelief when it comes to stuff like this, but the Bourne series didn't seem this silly to me. Also, one of the things that helps the movie feel faster is the overabundance of shaky cam. While this works when Bourne is fighting, it just looks stupid for when he's talking to someone. I felt that the camera man came in drunk that day and just couldn't hold the camera straight. It was kind of embarrassing.
So would I recommend Bourne Ultimatum? If you're a fan of the first two or have at least seen the first two, then yes. It's a good, not great, ending to a wonderful trilogy that has kept fans coming back for years. However, this isn't a great place for newcomers to start since it doesn't really go out of its way to explain the previous films. It's not the movie's fault, it just expects you to have seen the previous movies, which you should.