The Bourne Ultimatum

Rating: 9/10 (24 August 2007)

Going into this movie, all I had heard was how fantastic this movie was, from friends AND critics. I had to put it to the test.
I saw both the past Bourne films. While I enjoyed them, I would hardly call myself a fan. I gave the first a 7/10 and the second a 5/10. But when there is 100% positive reviews for a film, it's a must see.
Bourne is all over the world in this one with a simple goal: to find out who he was. Meanwhile, a new bad guy, the guy from Good Night and Good Luck, is on his tail trying to kill him so that secrets about the CIA are not spilled. Helping him are the two women from the last movie: Joan Allen and Julia Stiles.
The action scenes are constant. This is good, the movie's pace never goes down. But I have one major complaint that almost ruined the movie for me. Paul Greengrass, the director, is not only obsessed with hand-held, but also with extremely close shots during action. Through two of the major fight sequences, I had no idea what was going on because I couldn't see anything. The camera was so close you were confused.
But the fact that the plot is fantastic is what saves the movie. This plot is one of the best I've ever seen in an action movie. Period. So, while the directing is poor, the screenplay and story pull the weight making it a great movie.