Movie Review: The Bourne Ultimatum – Starring Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Albert Finney & Joan Allen

Movie: The Bourne Ultimatum (PG-13)
Released: August 3rd, 2007
Runtime: 1 hr. 51 min.
Ticket Price: $5.00 Early Matinee
Refreshments: Hot Dog
Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Albert Finney & Joan Allen
Director: Paul Greengrass

Rating: Worth a Full Price Ticket –

Synopsis: All along he has just wanted to be left alone and to disappear, but those that created him are still trying to hunt him down. Now all he wants is to find out who he was and he is starting at the beginning and working forward. This leads him to Moscow, Paris, Madrid, London, Tangiers and New York. All the while being hunted by cops, Interpol agents, assassins and others out to get him.

Review: The Bourne Ultimatum is a kick-ass spy thrill ride that hits the gas and never lets up until the credits roll. It is the third in the Bourne movie franchise based on Robert Ludlum’s original trio of books. If you like your spy thrillers full of pontification and dialogue, then you’ve come to the wrong movie. This movie is about action and when it takes a breath, it conveys the characters emotions and thoughts via facial expression and silence.

What makes these movies great, even though they are non-stop action, is they are actually telling a story. This one continues with Bourne on a quest to find out who he used to be. Together with The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy, it makes for one exciting giant story arc, which comes to a satisfying conclusion. You never feel that it is just one action scene after another, just for the sake of it.

David Strathairn (We Are Marshall, Good Night, and Good Luck), as Noah Vosen, the head of the deep cover agency responsible for Bourne and those like him, is solid as always. He wants to put an end to Bourne and keep their secret project, well, secret.

Joan Allen (The Upside of Anger, The Contender) is back as Pamela Landy. She is trying to bring Bourne in, but wants to go about it in a different way, as she wants to know what is going on, almost as much as Bourne does. She too is wonderful as always.

The Bourne series of movies has always had an outstanding cast, in both main and supporting roles. Julia Styles (The Prince & Me, Mona Lisa Smile) gets bumped up from supporting to main player in this one. Way to hang in there and finally get some screen time Julia.

The Bourne Ultimatum is worth checking out on the big screen. It makes a nice open-ended capper to the trilogy. Once this hits on DVD, sitting down and watching all three in a row will make for a fun Saturday night.

Could The Bourne Legacy be next? I for one would like to see it. With the success of the first movie, two more books with the Jason Bourne character at the center of the action have been released, the second just this past June. Author Eric Van Lustbader has picked up the series and subsequently written The Bourne Legacy and The Bourne Betrayal. Would you like to see more Bourne on the big screen?