Movie Info
Movie Name: The Bourne Ultimatum
Studio: The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): August 3, 2007
MPAA Rating: PG-13
I thought I was just auditioning for The Real World…
Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) has been deemed a threat by the agency that created him. While Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) tries to get Bourne to come in, CIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) is actively hunting him. A leak has been uncovered by a journalist ( ), and it could hold the secret to Jason’s missing time. In an unlikely team-up with Nicky (Julia Stiles), Jason must find out what Blackfriar is and who is pulling his strings.
Directed by Paul Greengrass, The Bourne Ultimatum is the third film in the Bourne series. Following The Bourne Supremacy in 2004, The Bourne Ultimatum takes its name and some of the plot elements from Robert Ludlum’s 1990 novel. The movie was well received by critics and fans and won three Oscars for Best Achievement in Film Editing, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, and Best Achievement in Sound Editing.
Everybody was kung fu fighting!
After The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Ultimatum is my favorite Bourne movie. You could argue that it is even better than The Bourne Identity, but since it is the third film in the series, I do think there is some overlap and rehash that makes it slightly less original…but still a great film.
For an action series, the story for the Bourne films is surprisingly strong. The story weaves and overlaps and recalls events of the first film. Unlike James Bond movies (or at least the older Bond movies before they started emulating the Bourne series), Bourne’s action in the past have an effect on his present situation and mindset. He doesn’t live in a bubble. This film serves as a means to tie up most of his story (to allow an “ending” for his character if necessary) and feels pretty satisfying while doing it.
If I didn’t have to go infiltrate the C.I.A., we’d totally get it on.
Matt Damon has got Bourne down by this film. Julia Stiles has an augmented role in this film as Nicky but her introduction into the film feels kind of forced and too deus ex machina in the chance that their paths happen to cross…again. Joan Allen continues to be good as Pamela Landy and David Strathairn plays a great heavy for the film (casting has done a good job with perfect bureaucratic bad guys through the series). I do feel both Scott Glenn and Albert Finney could have been used more (especially Glenn), but they make the most of the scenes they have.
When I go on international assassination missions, I never leave home without my American Express card!
The movie looks and sounds great. The editing is fast and furious and the Bourne films in general, I think, are great examples of how action sequences should be edited. You understand what is happening and the movements, though completely insane, feel natural.
The Bourne Ultimatum is a worth “end” to the Bourne series…but of course with its success the movie doesn’t end. The Bourne Legacy was released in 2012 with Jeremy Renner taking up the starring role as another victim of the government programming with a story that weaves in and out of Bourne’s story. Though the writing is sometimes clever, The Bourne Ultimatum should have been the final entry…but Hollywood cannot leave Bourne alone. Matt Damon returned as Bourne in Jason Bourne in 2016.
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