Bourne is definitely the new Bond!

Rating: 9/10 (19 August 2007)

Geez... I just saw this movie last night, and it's been a long, LONG while since I've been totally griped by a film for 2 ('ish) hours.
From the get go this movie is in overdrive. But don't worry It's far from your usual mindless romp of an action movie. It's intelligent, sharp, efficient, and the way it has a docu-dramatized feel to it, makes it gritty and believable.
I saw the first film, long, long ago and I thought it was a kool movie. I didn't actually get around to see the second one, but from what I hear, Ultimatum appears to be the best out of the three and believe me, this could well be the best film of 2007.
Matt Damon is excellent as the lead and I'm sure the obvious comparisons between him and the new Bond man (Daniel Craig) will continue to be made. In my opinion, both actors play the role of new, contemporary gritty, tough guy well. But to me, Matt has the edge. I suppose it's his (slightly) younger age. And the obvious lack of those legendary Bond clichés of suave women, megalomaniacs, and the deeply entrenched upper class echelons of the British MI6 and of course those ridiculous gadgets (I mean, that "invisible" car in Die Another Day, was just plain nuts).
No Matt Damon is like a slimmed down, "pure" version of contemporary Bond.
Asides from the power and energy of Matt however, don't be fooled into thinking that means the rest of the films' characters are weak. Far from it. I'll admit there isn't much of a Human touch in the film, as signified by the cold, professional divide between the characters, especially between Bourne and his female sidekick played by Julia Stiles (but to be honest, I think Stiles was probably DEAD in this film anyway, so perhaps sparking ANY relationship with her character was a non-starter!). Sure, there was the odd crack and fragility in Bourne, but this is a gritty film It feels "real". And as we know, in the real world, people usually are quite cold and distant, especially in this day and age.
No The other characters were great and all complemented the film well. From the deadly, terminator like assassins assigned to take Bourne out, to the shadowy scheming CIA special operatives planning strategies and tactics in front of an array satellite feeds and virtual computer screens.
The War, if indeed there is a war between Bourne and Bond, is far from over. The new Bond is definitely going in the right direction in comparison to its predecessors. Dare I say, Bond is becoming more "Bourne" like, so it remains to be seen who wins out in the end.
Casino Royale was good. Definitely the best Bond film to come out in a long, LONG time. But given the open-ended ending of Ultimatum, its creators may well be planning to take Bond on and believe me, they've fired a pretty damaging salvo into the Bond franchise with this one.
Bourne IS the new Bond!