Incredibly, viscerally exciting; an edge-of-your-seat thrill-ride.

Rating: 8/10 (19 August 2018)

'The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)' is just incredibly, viscerally and unapologetically exciting, an edge-of-your-seat thrill-ride from start to finish. It whisks along from extended set-piece to extended set-piece - which don't always rely on straight-up fisticuffs or foot-chases, often feeling much more cat-and-mouse or cerebral - and provides, once again, an engaging and riveting espionage-based mystery for us to sink our teeth into (which might feel slightly tagged on in terms of the trilogy but totally nails the balance between Bourne and the CIA). The 'shaky' camera-work reaches its height in a mid-point fight that feels slightly frustrating in the way it's cut together, since the behind-the-scenes stuff reveals that both actors were doing complex and quick choreography far more involving than the chopped-up stuff that made it on screen, and in the way it sounds, since the slightly 'cartoony' sound-design of the first film seeps in here as well (though it's not as exaggerated), but these issues are mostly constrained to this one sequence as both elements are fine-tuned enough throughout the rest of the piece to work pretty much perfectly, creating a realistic and tense experience that keeps you on tender hooks right until its closing credits. The trilogy has consistently remained a favourite of mine no matter how many times I watch it and I always come away with a different favourite, proving they are all as good as one another and unique in some subtle way. While I'll always have a special place in my heart for the first, thanks mainly due to its more character-focused and arguably tighter plot, this picture was easily the most exciting - and possibly the best - this time around. 8/10