Stuff by Steve

I experienced two emotions upon leaving the theatre from seeing “The Bourne Ultimatum.” One is of relief to have finally watched a movie in a theatre this summer without feeling let down, and the other is of exhilaration that such relief was possible because the movie was so good. Unlike the other blockbusters I have seen this summer, I found myself enthralled in a way that drew me into the screen like no other movie since “The Bourne Supremacy.” And, possibly most crucially, I was finally able to gratify that “one more scene of Bourne” craving that the first two movies left me with. Not everything was all pizza and ice cream, however. I did notice that the story and tone were very similar to the second film, giving a sense of “seen it all before.” This was not helped by the cinematography. Bearing the mark of both the same director and the director of photography of the second film, I was subject to a plethora of shaky camera work. This was a blessing and a curse; it gave the movie an ever-present sense of urgency, and each action scene was highly exciting, but I could never stop to admire the wondrous martial arts marvel that is Jason Bourne. Maybe this was okay, since Bourne was no longer the conscience-less killing machine that he used to be, and the gritty, raw film work seemed to reflect the life-or-death struggle that he was constantly embroiled in. Or perhaps this was all some secret ploy to get us to buy the DVD so that we can watch those scenes over again. There were other things I did not like, as well, such as a few moments in the story that seemed too contrived and corny for such a serious story. I would like to mention that whomever cast Albert Finney into this movie as the doctor should have been smarter than that, as he bears more than a small resemblance to Brian Cox, who portrayed a prominent character to his death in the first two movies. I felt this caused a certain amount of confusion initially. Having said that, bringing in David Strathairn as the CIA Deputy Director was a good move. I think he saved what could have been a weakly written character. Everyone else played well off of each other, and the brooding performance by Matt Damon was deftly dealt. Overall, the movie was a perfect blend of overt action and subtle character play. Watching Bourne dance through each harrowing situation by staying two steps ahead of his pursuers was an edge-of-my-seat affair, while the quiet moments of delightfully awkward silence that seemed to surround Bourne spoke volumes without a word of dialogue. The ending, arguably the most important part of the story since it wrapped up both the movie and the series, was satisfying. Bourne’s secret was finally revealed (although not without its own twist) and his struggle was brought to a climactic conclusion in a manner consistent with his new-found character without letting me feel ripped off. The story seemed to appropriately come full circle in many respects with certain characters, scenes, and bits of dialogue echoing the roller coaster that Bourne has been on these past few years. I have to say that very few movies of late offer any of that nail-biting spy intrigue that made this one great.