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Written by Nick Da Costa | Tuesday, March 4, 2008 |
The only Ultimatum this third film in the Bourne canon wants to enforce is that you are thrilled. Any Bond fanatics who don’t believe this franchise inspired the gritty reboot, take a look at one of the nastiest, drag-out fights ever depicted on film, and be ready for a rethink.
This set piece that frames the fight starting with a slow tail on scooters, shifts up a gear onto motorbike and then rooftop foot chase before exploding with a vault through a window to interrupt an execution, is the film in micro. A perfect cinematic rhythm that never gets bogged down by needless exposition; each line of dialogue is either handled on the fly or measured to perfection. This is action as articulation, and the perfect blockbuster.
What’s more, everything we’ve come to expect from our amnesia wracked operative is present and correct, from the manipulation of random household objects into deadly weapons, to the mesmerising, whirligig direction from Paul Greengrass that slams you into the action of a car chase or dazzles you with the finesse of a government agent evading his enemies. And though some might find the main story a little repetitive with its parallel storylines of suits on surveillance and Bourne on the run, here the tables have finally turned.
Bourne isn’t running anymore. At least, he’s not running away. In Ultimatum, he’s running full tilt at the men responsible for his training, and indoctrination into the Treadstone program, and finally he’s going to get the answers that should set him free from the ruptured nightmare his memory and life has become.
Once again we have a fantastically rugged and draining performance from Damon; every death he’s had a hand in, every dirty action, is imprinted across his face, and sunk deep into his eyes. He’s perfectly aided by a well rounded cast, especially the superbly believable Allen as returning Pamela Landy, who trains a maternal eye on her agent, dumped out in the cold and the slimy David Strathairn as her colleague Noah Vosen, relishing his opportunity to play the villain.
The script takes us full circle, echoing moments from the previous films, allowing revelations to resonate with us, just as much as they do for the character. And while we met Bourne, bobbing helplessly in the sea of the first film, by the end of this, the third film, he’s striking out strongly in new waters, still alone, but very much aware of who he really is.
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