Remember Everything. Forgive Nothing.

Rating: 8/10 (30 August 2007)

Here's a tip: don't eat before you enter the cinema. This is one stomach-turning film.
I say that not as a criticism of its quality. Quite the opposite in fact; this film represents the new elite of Hollywood: brainy AND ballsy, edgy without preachy, fun without betraying the characters' cores.
The camera-work is what will kill the stomach. It moves with such velocity sometimes that I found myself squinting to make out what's going on. A marvelous tool to bring reality to what would otherwise be a difficult-to-believe plot line. It makes you feel not like you're some static viewer, but someone whose been thrown into the pit of this chaotic tale and you're constantly chasing the characters as they blast and bark their way through scenes.
Which brings me to the acting: effortlessly perfect. Damon is a brilliant actor in my mind. Most main stars would be all-too-tempted to be showy and just begging to throw soundbites here and there. (I'm looking at you, Cruise.) Matt has the modesty, temperance and understanding not only to hold back with dignity, but be damn-near silent throughout most of the film. This in turn allows him to play the real character: an unstoppable weapon of destruction hell-bent on wreaking justice on those that took away his life and his love. Words are seldom used on his part because they are seldom necessary. When he does speak, it's mostly terse commands or direct inquiries, with a gun in his hand. A comment on government style these days, perhaps? Joan Allen is another excellent performer. She really pulls off the role with style. She makes her work seem effortless in all the films she's done that I've seen, but especially in this film she shines as an actress fully-capable of immersing herself in the character. By the end of this film you can fully relate to how she's changed from chasing Bourne to...well, you'll see.
Julia Stiles is not my favourite actress in the world, but maybe that's only because I'm not a major fan of her films. they always seemed to be in the teenybopper area, which ain't my cuppa tea. This film shows her to be a very mature, and restrained actress. Again it must take discipline to be able to hold back, remain cold, on a big Hollywood film. She does it admirably. Whilst still not being the best at emoting---or perhaps that's the point of her character?---she does however give us another viewpoint on the plot line, another angle on Bourne, and that's more than can be said for most actors out there.
Director Paul Greengrass is a gift from God as far as I'm concerned. He seems incapable of any ego-ish actions. Most directors when standing on the pedestal of cash handed to them by their thankful and greedy producers, tend to display all the restraint of a five year old with ADHD. This their chance to shine and they frequently blow up instead. Greengrass takes the world by the unmentionables and shoves it in our face, shows us the ugly as well as the beautiful, takes the grit of real-life espionage and rubs it in our eyes til we're war-hardened and tired. And that's exactly the point. It's no secret he and his fellow castmembers harbour reservations when it comes to the USA foreign policy. This film is a direct FU to those people, but done in an intellectual and entertaining way.
These, to me, are the essential attributes of an excellent film.
The upside: bombs, guns, chases and riveting dialogue.
The downside: stomach-quaking camera-work, you have to see the previous two to really get emotionally involved.
The sum-up: see it, and think on what the world we live in really is all about.