Saturday, August 11, 2007

The Bourne Ultimatum



I loved this film. I was gripping my armrests the whole time. Somehow, the filmmakers managed to top its predecessors from the series in action, suspense, and memory-centric plotting and espionage.

There were times in the film when the danger was very real, moments when I thought characters were going to die, to fail, to lose their way. Of course, that is all artifice because the film is engineered to race towards its conclusion like a speeding train.

It's interesting how the film managed to incorporate a character I had little interest in from the first two movies and make her necessary and...well...interesting. Julia Stiles CIA techie matters in the scheme of the film's plot, and I really didn't expect to care so much about her. When Bourne races to save her while an assassin is hot on her trail, I desperately wanted him to be her knight in shining armor. And what's so strange is to be that invested in the fate of a character that meant little or nothing to me in her earlier forms. The credit should go to the writers, but also to Stiles. I often am less than pleased with the actress' work (i.e. - Hamlet, The Omen), but she makes great strides in Ultimatum.

It's so easy to praise the film - the assured directing, the taught script, the supporting cast - that it somehow becomes easy to pass over Matt Damon's performance. It would be so easy for an actor to phone in a performance after playing the character in two previous movies, but Damon is on his game, confident in his interpretation of his character to the point that all that cool composure, that furrowed brow, and the daring physical feats seem effortless somehow. Although Damon infuses Bourne with mannerisms and personality (or lack thereof) from the first two films, the character is still fresh while his character's search for his past is endless and bitter at every turn. I saw Ocean's Thirteen a few days after Ultimatum and the comparison of Damon's performances enhanced my enjoyment of his portrayal of Bourne. Whereas Damon's Linus in Ocean's Thirteen is so far from confident and composed, Damon's Bourne is the opposite. Linus is essentially phoned in, while Bourne shows the work of an actor striving to bring a character believably alive off of the page.

My only complaint (because I don't want to nitpick a film I enjoyed so thoroughly) is that the flashbacks of Bourne's past have grown old. They change throughout the series, perhaps progressing to a moment of complete revelation, but the familiar blurry scene, fuzzy voices, and wavy lenses and camera tilts are tired. I understand the flashbacks have been established in the first two films, and it would be very difficult and awkward to change the style for the third, but I find them almost tacky in a otherwise perfectly composed film. I mean, really! Is there no other way for memories save for the Bourne style and the pink waves and sound cues of Saved by the Bell?

Have fun. Enjoy the ride. Get Excited.

****

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