Action movies are rarely as involving in both story and character as The Bourne Trilogy

Rating: 9/10 (8 April 2009)

Political assassinations conducted or assisted by U.S. intelligence agencies are not new and those we know about may only be the tip of an iceberg. In timely fashion, The Bourne Trilogy focuses on issues such as whether the ends justify the means in pursuing political goals or whether our intelligence community must seek justice in a manner consistent with our stated moral (and legal) values as a nation. In the series, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is a trained assassin whose amnesia causes him to try and recover his past and, in the process, is forced to confront the morality of his actions. While the awakening of conscience in a trained assassin or government operative is about as likely as Barack Obama changing his name to Jubilation T. Cornpone, when it does occur, it is a pleasure to witness and the series as a whole, while superior action fare, refuses to glorify violence or portray intelligence operatives as larger than life.
In The Bourne Trilogy, it is chase or be chased and the series is replete with state of the art car chases and hot pursuits in, around, on, and through buildings. Even if the outcomes are predictable, half of the fun is watching Bourne use his ingenuity and whatever tools are at his disposal to fight his pursuers in a very creative way. Bourne is a no-nonsense guy who never smiles, yet the films are not grim but exhilarating and we can only smile as he calmly walks out of his car door after it has been bounced off roofs and bridges, smashed against walls, and turned upside down. Because of his precarious position, Bourne must constantly be on the go and we save the airfare by riding along with him to Zurich, Madrid, Berlin, Tangiers, Amsterdam, Paris, Moscow, New York and others, travelogues worth the price of admission.
In The Bourne Identity, the first and most human (and least dizzying) of the trilogy, Jason has lost his memory after an aborted assassination attempt at sea and must piece together memories to find out who he is and why he is being hunted. He recognizes that he is skilled at using a gun as well as his fists, and when he discovers a gun and forged passports in a safety deposit box, he suspects that he is an assassin whose mission, called Operation Treadstone, went terribly wrong. Jason doesn't really know where to go or who to search for. Those people and missions reveal themselves to him during the course of his journey as he unlocks more and more of his past. The first film also has the only romance in the series as Jason and Marie Helena Kruetz (Franka Potente) begin an uneasy alliance when he pays her a huge amount of money to drive him to Paris which develops into romance and the only touch of real tenderness in the series.
Directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93), The Bourne Supremacy changes the style of the first film into one of non-stop, kinetic action delivered with a glossy style and shaky hand-held camera-work. Living with Marie in India, Jason is hunted once again as his fingerprints are found on a bomb used to assassinate a CIA informant. This brings in Deputy Director Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) to take the search for Bourne to a higher level but she is met with resistance by those who do not want information dug up by Landy about Treadstone. After someone close to him is accidentally killed, Bourne goes to Moscow to find the truth about his involvement in the assassination of a Russian politician.
Shot in the same style as Supremacy but more focused and somewhat less frenetic, The Bourne Ultimatum brings in yet another main character, Deputy Director Noah Vosen (David Strathairn), head of Operation Blackbriar, an updated version of Treadstone. Landy begins to have doubts about Bourne's complicity in the informant's death but Vosen wants him taken out, thinking he is the source for a British newspaper story that is compromising to the Agency. Eventually, Bourne goes back to the source, Dr. Albert Hirsch (Albert Finney) in an attempt to atone for the many past murders he has committed in the government's name but events prove embarrassing to the men at the top.
Action movies are rarely as involving in both story and character as The Bourne Trilogy and this is in large measure due to the skills of Matt Damon who has created a character that we care about and root for. The success of the films is also complemented by outstanding supporting performances by stars such as Joan Allen, David Strathairn, Albert Finney, Julia Stiles, Clive Owen, Brian Cox, Franka Potente, and Chris Cooper. While it may be unlikely that uncovering of a CIA assassination ring would lead to a congressional investigation, nonetheless, it is refreshing to see action heroes confront the morality of their actions. Similarly, as viewers, we are torn between the catharsis of violence and a longing for a sane and humane world, an essential conflict that is playing out on the world stage.