Greengrass' ultimatum + Happy Birthday Great Actress Joan Allen

Rating: 10/10 (20 August 2009)

***Spoilers ahead!*** Greengrass' ultimatum to action movies: get a brain, my movies have it.
And stamina, of course. In fact, most other action movies seem so silly when compared to the Bourne series that even the James Bond franchise openly imitates it in the last two films (the ones with Daniel Craig).
Both Bourne's physical skills and intelligence are realistically portrayed, which is very refreshing, specially the portrayal of his wit: his logic and his tricks are so simple that they convince you. You and me could eventually figure out things or invent tricks like Bourne does, only that he thinks much faster than us. But his "mental stunts" are always reasonable: you understand them, which makes the film much more effective (it would work even with much less action, thanks to intrigue).
By the way, Happy Birthday Joan Allen (great, classy actress, beautiful and elegant). Pamela Landy adds another touch of realism: if you look in the real world, you will see super-professional women just like her. Perhaps Bournes do not exist, but Pam Landys certainly do.
The trademark (and landmark) fight sequences reach their top in the series (one of the aspects imitated by recent Bond films) and Julia Styles' Nikki is there to stare in disbelief as Bourne battles his hardest adversary. The close up on the face of this very fine actress (excellent Desdemona in "Hamlet 2000") is much more shocking than, for example, showing the bloody corpse of the deceased killer.
Original and bold plot move, placing the last scene of "The Bourne Supremacy" in the middle of "Ultimatum" (of course they are the same scene, in spite of minor differences!), thus playing with the viewer's memory.
This time the car chases, another trademark, become self-consciously over the top and almost self-parody, with Bourne getting a police car and taking more risks than ever.
Awesome final confrontation in the buildings of the secret agencies, with Bourne and Landy communicating by subtle hints they are sending each other.
I can't hardly wait to see "The Bourne Legacy".