Movie Review: The Bourne Ultimatum

Matt Damon's come a long way since his Good Will Hunting and Rounders days. And, he was pretty solid in those flicks, as well. Then come Robert Ludlum's Bourne series of books, of which the main character is...you guessed it, Jason Bourne, played by Matt Damon.

I haven't read any of Ludlum's works, so it's hard for me to compare the films to the books. That could be because I'd rather get a swift kick in the babymaker than read a book. Why stare at words for a few days when you can look at pretty pictures for 'round-about two hours?

As you all can probably agree, the first two films were pretty damned action-packed and fairly well casted. In Ultimatum, the action is fierce and, to a certain extent, "mindbottling." The director, Paul Greengrass, must be a big fan of "shaky camera shots," because I almost spewed kittens during the chase/fight scenes. It evidently got the best of Mrs. Nutsack, also, as she had a small bout of low blood sugar near the end. One sugar-crammed Airhead later, and she was back fighting the good fight. However, it didn't detract from keeping with the plot line and following along, it just made you wonder when the chase scenes would end so that you could regain your senses.

Matt Damon is, of course, outstanding as the film's hero, Jason Bourne. And, you also find a little more about Jason's life before Treadstone and how his former self connects to another character in the series. Julia Stiles makes yet another appearance as the appropriately cute Nicky Parsons. She's dynamite in the movie, as well. Then, there are your peripheral characters like David Strathairn as Noah Vosen, some kind of big-wig of a government agency, and Joan Allen as Pamela Landy, another kind of big-wig of a government agency. Strathairn is adequate at best, and Allen is only slightly better. They do play large parts in the "B" story in the plot line (not a bad thing, though), but fortunately Damon and Stiles are so good you rarely notice Strathairn and Allen's inadequecies.

I don't generally agree with Damon's views on...say, wordly concerns...however, I tried not to think about that as I paid my unGodly and wildly overpriced $8.75 to sit in an unfomfortable chair and listen to old people cough up lungs. Like I said before, the predecessors to Ultimatum were very successful and entertaining cuts, and the third falls right in line with an equally good story. To quote a great line from Paul Rudd in The 40 Year-Old Virgin, "I used to think Matt Damon was sort of a Streisand, but I gotta say he's rockin' the shit in this one." Touche'. Touche', indeed.

TDIH Movie Rating: 4.5 's out of 5.