Rating of
3/4
"The Bourne Ultimatum" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 12/23/11
The final installment of the Bourne franchise sees Matt Damon finally discovering who he is and who's behind this fine mess he's in. I must admit, I found this film an odd one. The usual formula of a thriller involves the story being set up for the first two thirds of the film, and the last half hour climaxes with a frenetic action set piece. In The Bourne Ultimatum, it's the other way round! The first hour and a half is more of Greengrass' wobbly cam following an earnest looking Damon as he runs through interchangeable corridors, chases down generic bad guys and speeds through traffic. There is literally no plot til the last half hour. It reminded me of The Matrix trilogy in that the second film seemed irrelevant, and the two sequels could easily have been compressed into one superior film. But as it stands, it's an entertaining enough thriller which ties up the story satisfactorily (if unsurprisingly) and at least the direction contained more drama and less seasickness than the second (the climactic car chase is actually very impressive indeed.) Still not as good as the first but it will please fans of the series.
