Movie & Music

Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is taking no prisoners and he’s determined to uncover the truth about his identity. Talk about building up to a climax in a movie series, this roller coaster saved the best for last. What a ride!

The story picks up near the end of the second one, The Bourne Supremacy, where Jason is limping around Moscow trying to escape the authorities, and of course he does. He later finds an article that seems to have a lot of information about him so he pursues that reporter to then pursue the reporter’s source. The CIA, however, was doing the exact same thing. The CIA and Jason stumble upon each other and so continues the hunt. But it won’t stop Jason from obtaining that which he wants more than anything: his memory and the secrets about his life.

“This is Jason Bourne, the toughest target that you have ever tracked.” Indeed he is and Matt Damon IS Jason Bourne as much as Harrison Ford IS Indiana Jones, Arnold Schwarzenegger IS the Terminator, and Johnny Depp IS Jack Sparrow, sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow. He masters the role and leaves nothing to envy from any other of the blockbuster actions stars, past or present. He has made the character so real that even though some of the action in the film pushes the envelope on realism, he keeps Jason well grounded. You will want to be there fighting right beside him. Joan Allen is back as Pamela Landy and she gave a solid performance demonstrating how she can play with the big boys. Julia Stiles is also back as Nicky Parsons and brings an unexpected twist to the story. The new wave of agent/assassin Bourne hunters, like Edgar Ramirez, were just as professionally cold-blooded as the ones from the first two pictures.

If you consider the storyline of this movie by itself, there really isn’t much there. It does need to remain in context with the full story which would include the other two releases. There is actually a very interesting chronological tie between the second movie and this one that I don’t think I’ve ever seen done before. The Bourne series is like a fireworks show and The Bourne Ultimatum is the grand finale. It doesn’t say a whole lot, but there sure are a lot of fireworks. This movie is one of those cases where the action outweighs and outdoes the story. It is fast, constant and mature. It is difficult to look away. Even in the “slow” scenes when there was actual dialogue, I was still tense and anxious. Priscilla held her need to go to the restroom for a good hour until the movie ended so as not to miss anything. The icing on this cake are all the fascinating locations where the story develops. James Bond ain’t got nothing on Jason Bourne when it comes to world travel . . . except maybe a bit more frequent flyer miles.