The Bourne Ultimatum appears to be one of the best reviewed films of the summer. This is surprising because it is (1) an action movie and (2) a sequel (neither of which tend to do well by critical standards). It is currently rocking a 93% on the old Tomatometer. That’s impressive. I decided to see if this movie truly is the “be all, end all” action experience. I’m stepping out of my comfort zone here, dear readers. This is the first movie I’ve reviewed that is still in theatres.This is not really a review of Jason Bourne 3 in the same sense as my other reviews. I’m not going to give any point-by-point critique. I will give my opinion of the film. I don’t think that this is one of the greatest action movies ever made. I don’t even consider it to be the best action movie of 2007 (that honor goes to Shooter). I think The Bourne Ultimatum is a good action film and fits nicely into the Bourne series.
Plot = find Jason Bourne before he finds you.
If you’ve seen the previous two movies in the Bourne series you have an idea of what to expect from this installment. The CIA/NSA guys need to find Bourne before he exposes their evil “make a bunch of assassins by brainwashing techniques” program. They need their information on his whereabouts now, people. Seriously…David Strathairn’s character says, “I need this information (GPS coordinates, cell-phone traces, video feeds, pizza orders, etc.) now, people” too many times in the movie. I’d hate to be one of his employees. He’s a real cattle-driver. The government sucks.
Action Sequences = tight quarters karate-type fights, foot chase scenes, surveillance evasion, obligatory car chase/crash scene, explosions, gunshots, etc.
The action sequences in this movie are awesome, hectic, spastic, headache/nausea inducing spectacles. I knew going into this film (from my experience with part 2) that I would need to sit in the very back row of the theatre to be able cope with the constantly moving camera and quick-cut editing. I also knew that I needed to take a Xanax before it started. Many people can deal with this type of filmmaking and suffer no physical trauma (i.e. 93% of the critics on Rotten Tomatoes). I can’t. My brain has seizures. I suffer from a condition called Sensory Integration Disorder. All the flashing, cutting, and zooming effects make me insane. I killed the fat lady sitting next to me during the car chase scene. I ate her children.
I understand why Paul Greengrass insists on using this technique in his film. He wants to create a sense of constant motion, tension, anxiety, and so forth. I just think it’s overkill when he uses this technique for scenes that don’t warrant it. For example: There is a scene where Matt Damon is walking down the sidewalk. Nothing happens—he’s just walking down the sidewalk. There are 5 quick-cuts and 3 quick-zooms, all from different angles on shaking cameras. There should be other ways of convincing me that Jason Bourne is dangerous or “on edge”.
I like the scenes in this film that reference the first movie. A scene where Jason Bourne is in the water looks exactly like the opening scene from The Bourne Identity. A scene where Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) is coloring and cutting her hair mimics another scene in the first film. Is it just me, or is Julia Stiles face really puffy? She looks kind of weird. I wonder if she’s on steroids like Barry Bonds. That would explain the puffiness.
Spoiler: Jason Bourne's real name is David Webb.
In conclusion, I liked this film, just not as much as everyone else. I don’t really care if they make a part 4. I’ll probably watch it again on DVD to see if it works better for me on a small screen. I will end my review with a letter to Paul Greengrass.
Dear Director Paul Greengrass,
If you make another Bourne movie, could you please tone down the quick-cut, flashing scenes? At moments during your latest film, The Bourne Ultimatum, I felt like someone tied me to a chair, taped my eyelids open, and forced me to stare at a strobe light. He/she also put a pair of big headphones on my ears with a pulsating, percussion-based soundtrack (drums, bongos, congas, piccolo snares, didgeridoos, rain-sticks, etc.) cranked to full volume. The experience left me feeling like I had undergone one of the brainwashing techniques that Jason Bourne had to undergo to become the ultimate assassin.
Thanks,
Silentkid
Edited to add: Thanks to floatingboy for the heads up on a great Onion parody about Ben Affleck's idea for Bourne 4. Check it out here.
3 comments:
Can I co-sign that letter? I went into this one with a lot of anxiety. A couple years ago we got to the "Supremacy" a little late and had to sit in the third row. That, my friends, is enough to get anyone thrown into the nervous hospital. I still have a headache from that. Generally though, I thought the "Ultimatum" camera work was much more toned down.
My friend and I had a lot of fun making predictions in this movie. "Scooter chase, five minutes." The guy sitting next to us lacked any sense of irony. He was rocking back and forth in his seat, and exclaiming "Oooooh" with every explosion and no-look Bourne punch to the face. His wife was dozing in the chair next to him.
I love your "scooter chase, five minutes" comment. Awesome. I need to re-watch Supremacy. I'll take a couple of vicodin beforehand. I wonder if that guy sitting next to you was my dad. He loved it. My mom had her eyes closed and head down for most of the movie. I thought she was going to throw up.
"The experience left me feeling like I had undergone one of the brainwashing techniques that Jason Bourne had to undergo to become the ultimate assassin." Mission accomplished.
p.s. Read the current The Onion article about Ben Affleck pitching the idea of a 4th Bourne movie featuring himself as a sidekick. Priceless.
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