The Bourne Ultimatum concludes the trilogy of movies about a man who volunteered for a top-secret CIA project that transformed him into a highly-trained assassin. After getting shot he loses his memory, but his past continues to influence him. In this movie the main character finds out about how he became Jason Bourne.
I was reluctant to see another guy movie, but having watched all of the Bourne films in one week, I have to say that the trilogy has come together very nicely. Matt Damon did an excellent job portraying Jason Bourne. He is not particularly my favorite actor, but the trilogy made me change my mind about him. It is very rare that an action film delivers good performances.
The pacing is perfect for an action film. There aren't any slow parts, but it's not too fast either, so you don't have to keep pausing and rewinding to figure out what's going on (yes, sometimes I have to do it to understand the plotline). Those of you who have been reading my blog know, that I hate hand-held camera, but this time the shakiness didn't irritate me. In fact, it even made me feel like I was part of the scene, which is what the effect is intended to do.
My only question concernes the fact that out of all Bourne movies, only Ultimatum made it on the list. If I were to rate these three movies, it would be #1 - The Bourne Supremacy, #2 - The Bourne Ultimatum, and #3 - The Bourne Identity. But whatever, the movie is still good.
Favorite quote: "If you were sitting in your office, we'd be having this conversation face-to-face".
Interesting fact: Since the opening scene of the film takes place directly after the ending of The Bourne Supremacy (2004), yet the production time difference was several months, it was January in Moscow. This would have been too cold and Berlin was chosen as the location of the shoot. The fake snow was made using paper and foam, and took an excess of 5 hours to cover the entire set.
I liked the entire series quite a bit. I read the books MANY years ago. A lot of action, suspense, and Matt Damon did a good job.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, there are new "Bourne" books out written after Ludlam's death. I'm afraid this was done to easily facilitate new "bourne" movies...I hope not, but I think so...
Speaking as a guy, at least the last time I checked, this is not a guy movie it's an infuriating movie. I couldn't stand it or the previous two Bourne films. Paul Greengrass' Blair Witch Project school of cinematography drove me nuts when I saw it in theaters.
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing is that the location shooting, Damon, and the other actors were pretty good. It was just Greengrass who ruined the whole thing for me.
JR, May be it's a chick flick disguised as a guy movie? Just kidding. Anyway, I appreciate that you took your time to comment even though you disagree with me...
ReplyDeletePat, you're right, there're tons of books, I think they will keep filming as long as it's commercially successful.
You know it would be funny to do movie reviews where your verdict would just be whether it's a guy movie or a chick flick.
ReplyDeleteThe Battleship Potemkin - Total guy movie. I mean it's typical of men to wait till maggots are crawling on their food before they do anything about it.
Good idea! I still haven't seen Battleship Potemkin. Actually I have to admit that I haven't seen any of the films you review in your blog =(
ReplyDeleteNot true. You saw Burnt By The Sun.
ReplyDeleteLOL yeah, that counts. Anyway, the movies I review are mainstream. You review the movies I've never even heard of, let alone seen.
ReplyDeleteWell, one of the one's I reviewed recently will be popping up on your blog: Ladri di biciclette AKA Bicycle Thieves. There are others that you are going to review that are on my blog already like Brazil (as a lawyer you'll love that one) and others I intend to rewatch and review like 8 1/2 among others.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's the end of this comment thread for me, lol.