The Bourne Ultimatum

August 2, 2007

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 111 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Bourne Ultimatum is the third movie based upon Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne character. Matt Damon is back playing the lead character. And unlike most sequels Ultimatum picks up right where the second movie, The Bourne Supremacy, left off.

The Bourne Ultimatum Although these movies can be enjoyable individually, you’ll really need to see the entire series to know all of the characters and why Jason does what he does. This installment starts off with a newspaper reporter who is publishing stories about Bourne and Treadstone with obvious input from a leak inside the CIA. This draws the attention of both Jason and the agency. Bourne wants to get to the source and find out more about his origins, which he still cant remember. The CIA wants to shut down the leak at all costs.

This brings the two together on a collision course. There’s a lot of fun in watching both sides playing the hunter who is being hunted. Jason’s skills are as potent as ever, but the CIA has some new “assets” as well who are in some ways like a “Bourne 2.0″. And yes, you know that makes for some great fight sequences.

We’ve said before that the Bourne series is what a modern day spy series should be. There’s a plot filled with intrigue that has a nice thread that ties all of the stories together. But we also get great fight sequences and lots of action. Another trademark of this series is to include a couple of really unique chase scenes. They do it again here with a motorcycle tearing thru alleys and stairwells in Algiers.

Matt Damon does his usual great job as Jason Bourne. We truly hope he doesn’t get bored with the character and this series has a long run. Although The Bourne Ultimatum is the final book in the series authored by Robert Ludlum, there are already two more in print penned by Eric Van Lustbader. It should be noted here that although the movies have followed the titles of the books, the plot lines have diverged greatly since the first movie.

We give The Bourne Supremacy a very strong 4 stars. It was probably one more good sequence away from a 5th star. As is, even at just under 2 hours long, it felt like a short movie, and we left hoping there’s another sequel around 2009 or so. Go see it at the theater, then grab the box set at Christmas. It belongs in every guy’s collection.

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Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 4 Stars, Action, David Strathairn, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles, Matt Damon, PG-13, Paddy Considine, Theatrical, Thriller