Rating of
4/4
*Sarah* - wrote on 12/29/08
Bourne dodges new, superior assassins as he searches for his unknown past while a government agent tries to track him down. In the follow up to 2002's The Bourne Identity and 2004's The Bourne Ultimatum.
The Ultimatum begins where Supremacy ends as MENTIONED in the picture. It was said Marie died in Januray of that year, making it continued on from the first one. I won't say to much about the end but it's an excellent end to this outstanding trilogy. From the moment that the opening title appeared, I knew we were in for a ride. Paul Greengrass has done it again. Everything we love from the previous Bourne films is here once again: the action, the dialogue, and of course the shaky camera. However for me, that last one was never a problem. I think it adds to the suspense. The Bourne series is for sure one of the best trilogies ever made and rightly so. Withough Paul Greengrasse's direction I don't think we would have though the series to be as good.
I thought Supremacy was excellent this is just another different type of action movie. This is FAR superior to many action films made in the 21st century. It's incredibly authentic and you almost feel like this could be happening now and that it's NOT just your average action movie at ALL!!! Greengrass has brought his documentry-like filmaking to this franchise and turned it into a real "authetic" franchise. For a start Greengrass keeps to what he knows, there is not CGI techniques, most of the driving is done by Damon himself, the car chases are not CGI enchanced, the editing is just superb and adds a whole new dimension to this film. WOW! The quick editing, keeps the viewer into the picture, there's no long-drawn out scenes, which has annoyed me in many blockbusters this summer. The film doesn't have a ton of scenes, CGI or irrelvant sequences in the picture. It's just what a action thriller. film SHOULD be.
There are some intelligent humor here and some fine suspense. The reactions to certain events will have you either laughing(in a good way) or cheering on. (or both) To all those people who object to hand-held camera technique, do you not see how authetic and realistic this is. In Supremacy and this one, you really get a sense of the action that you are watching on screen, rather than a motionless shot which can divert your attention else. A hand held shot keeps you watching and, as I said before makes you feel like your watching a documentry rather than your average hollywwod action film. I just love Greengrasse's technique is just superb!
The acting in this is once again brilliant. the latest addition to the cast, David Strathairn was perfect. I haven't seen much of of him before but I most certainly will catch more of his movies and most importantly, My Blueberry Nights. Julia Stiles is now an acomplised actress and not the teen idol that she was many years ago. I also loved Albert Finney's addition to the cast, played his character superbly as always. And Matt Damon, well....will always be known as Jason Bourne as Sean Connery will be known as James Bond. I hope to see more of his films later this year.
The sequences in this were just amazing. Being in a crowed cinema, after the SUPERB char chase, I heard the audience "gasp" after it finished, showing that the visuals were so powerful that you could not engage into the scene. I loved the fact you could hear the tires screaching and no dialogue was played whatsoever. This adds to the suspense. The Warterloo Station sequence was another brilliant piece of filmkaing. I know that the sequence qas filmed FOR real on a working day, which adds to the realism of the film. I know aswell that when the shots where fired one women actually thought it was gunshots and screamed. I don't think i can ever go into Waterloo station again and no think of that sequence
Overall Ultimatum is the best film that I've seen this year and possibly one of the best action thrillers in recent years. I will have to watch the film again on DVD as it such genuis filmaking. Had Greengrass not directed Supremacy and Ultimatum we would NOT be regarding it as one of the best trilogies in recent years.
