Furiously paced action thriller

Rating: 8/10 (1 October 2007)

Attach a camera to a stampeding bison and convolute his bulrush with a myriad of flaming obstacles. Lend the scene some gritty urbane shades of grey and you might just get a sense of what watching The Bourne Ultimatum is like. It is the third and final instalment of the best Hollywood trilogy since Lord Of The Rings. A cataclysm of chase sequences all brought together through an incredibly well managed story of searching for identity. Jason Bourne is now closer to finding out the truth than ever before. But those who rely on secrets and lies fully intend to make sure he never does. His journey brings him from Moscow (where we left off from Supremacy) to London, Tangiers and finally New York. Our main man has kept himself busy, amid trying to solve the riddle of why so many want him dead.
Paul Greengrass may just be the finest director working in Hollywood at the moment. After the admirably harrowing exercise in recreating the brave but doomed lives of those aboard United 93 last year, Greengrass has returned to what brought him mainstream acclaim, with Matt Damon as the man with many names. He is Jason Bourne, a man who pulsates his way through the journey faster than the camera can catch him, dispatching of his enemies in skilfully undetectable panache. He is the anti-James Bond, a man who achieves his goals through relentless determination but secretly just wants to let it all go and get back to being a normal person. Greengrass manages to capture the unclothed torture that occasionally surfaces in Bourne's demeanour during the film. In the few scenes between the break-neck action set-pieces it is almost as if Greegrass has been studying the characters' biorhythms, as the camera learily explores the meaning of a tapping finger, or a nervous twitch of an eye. The faux-documentary style allows for the camera to be as intimate as possible when needs be, and as explosively dynamic too. It is that wonderful mirage of cinematic excursions that lend The Bourne Ultimatum a sense of intimacy and substance. But that is not all that gives the movie its edge. Indeed it has political undertones too, with one brilliant sequence inside Waterloo station exploring the effects of being watched through CCTV. Not so much being watched, but who controls the cameras. Secondly, those who attempt to assassinate Bourne are all under the banner of the CIA, and references aplenty are made to waterboarding, black ops and rendition, as if the movie is questioning the humanity of those methods.
But the real stars of the show are the incredible action chases. Whether it is the roof jumping in Tangiers, or the car chase in New York, The Bourne Ultimatum is never short of being unrelenting. No other director could ever perfect this pace, for anything faster would be overkill, and anything less would diluting the frenetic energy that charges the movie screen. Greengrass is a master at roping his audience in and never letting go of that leverage. He can take the most basic of action sequences like a man running and make it feel like a helicopter exploding. Whether it is too frenetic or not, the one thing that is impossible to feel is boredom. Even the rare tender scenes are utterly compelling in their delivery. This is Matt Damon's finest work. He has always had a fluctuating career in terms of quality, despite being a very bankable star in the process. But his subtle raggedness, and penchant for looking unperturbed in the face of great danger is what makes Bourne seem like the classic no-man. He is an anomaly in terms of James Bond bewitchery, but perfect for the role of Jason Bourne  handsome, rugged and steely eyed. Not a flicker of doubt ever crosses his mind whilst fighting for the truth. And not a flicker of doubt ever crossed mine when reviewing this film.