Whoosh! Bang! Crash! Wallop!

Rating: 7/10 (18 August 2007)

What's become a spy-film franchise big enough to be compared to the Bond series (there's a link on the Orange homepage asking 'who's better: Bourne or Bond'?) is now onto its third film. For those who, like me, found 'The Bourne Supremacy' an inferior film to 'The Bourne Identity' (mangled and meandering plot; the lack of surprise and sense of mystery that the first film had; Paul Greengrass' frantic direction, suited to gritty documentaries like 'Bloody Sunday', but maybe not to a Hollywood action film), the good news is that 'Ultimatum' is a better film, though still not as good as the first. Greengrass' zingy, constantly-moving camera-work, deployed to add a 'gritty' edge to the fight scenes in 'Supremacy', is again present, though here it seems to be used often as not to cover up improbabilities such as Bourne jumping, superhero-style, improbably long distances from roof to roof. Damon remains tight-lipped and pretty much expressionless throughout, playing the role of assassin to perfection but skimping on the softer, vulnerable side that would allow us some emotional engagement with him which is rather lacking in the film (something brought out more in his relationship with Franka Potente's character in the first film and the beginning of the second). It's pretty much action all the way - one long adrenaline trip, frequently driven by John Powell's insistent repeated theme in the orchestral score. To accommodate this, the plot is stripped down and simple (basically: Bourne goes after baddies; Bourne fights baddies; Bourne goes after more baddies in search of who he really/originally was, and how he became the assassin Jason Bourne). There are numerous set-pieces: dodging a shooter in Waterloo station; scooter and roof-top chase in Tangier (the most extended, and perhaps the best, of all of them); and finally, climactic action in New York. Also, you got appearances by good, respected actors: David Strathairn, the mellifluous voice intact from 'Good Night and Good Luck', but the role very different; Scott Glenn; Joan Allen; Julia Stiles (thankfully not turning into the love interest here, though playing a fairly major role); and, to trump them all, Albert Finney, who really doesn't have that much to do but provides a suitably serious cameo. In the end, you may wonder whether it adds up to more than the sum of parts - the answer is probably no, but it's an entertaining enough summer blockbuster and it'll keep you suitably occupied for a couple of hours in the cinema.