Not bad; could've been better

Rating: 3/10 (8 September 2007)

The Bourne Ultimatum marks the third installment in the Bourne franchise. It seems that all three films basically follow Jason Bourne on one continuous journey as he runs from the powers that be; people who for one reason or another want him dead.
As the film begins, we find out, he is still in fact, on the never ending run. He is understandably hell bent on finding out who he is and why he is able to do what he does. The agency that comes after him apparently wants to kill him simply because he's the loose cannon, the lost piece of the big puzzle that is their human rights violating war on terror. We never find out in the film what Jason really knows. Perhaps he holds some key information apart from the existence of his organization that, if revealed, could collapse the entire CIA. It seems the entire film is based on the premise that Jason has to outrun and out think the people who hired and trained him, but the ends don't justify the means. In retrospect, there is no intent; no purpose as to why Jason has to run apart from wanting to stay alive and find out who he is. The agency apparently doesn't know he has amnesia, but that's neither here nor there. As someone watching the film, I really didn't have any reason to invest in the story or the characters apart from feeling sorry for Jason Bourne's sad state of affairs (or maybe I only cared because it's Matt Damon?).
Nonetheless, the film is without a doubt, edge of your seat stuff. The pacing was terrific and you really are sitting there thinking about what is going to happen next, even though the ending is not at all satisfying. One technical downside to the film is the over use of the shaky camera work, trying to make this seem more like a documentary rather than a film. There are scenes where I was wishing it would just stay still so I could see what's happening without having to think the cameraman was going to fall over.
As for the action, yes it is there. The film ends up being more about tension and pacing rather than the over the top action of say, Die Hard 4. One scene in particular though will go down as one of the best hand to hand fight scenes in cinematic history.
Every performance in the film seems a little stale. Jason doesn't seem to have any remorse for the deaths, although he does show some compassion to a fellow treadstone agent. It seems they took out the human factor and watered it down to make this more of a summer movie.
Over all, the film wasn't bad but the writing was a bit weak. I would've preferred a better story with a more satisfying conclusion and more intriguing characters than the thriller that was the final product. Either way don't wait for the DVD; go watch this one in theatres.