The Bourne Ultimatum

(Note: I'm beginning to think, myself, that I am writing too many positive reviews. So as is such, after this review, I will begin to look for movies to dislike, not movies to be entertained by. So yes, that does mean another positive review. Boo-hoo. 11 positive. 2 negative.)

Matt Damon is back for his third outing as amnesiac super-spy Jason Bourne in The Bourne Ultimatum. I haven't seen the first two films but not only does The Bourne Ultimatum explain the back-story of the first two excellently, but, I vow, with the 20 bucks in my wallet, to buy the first two.

No, it isn't the best summer blockbuster so far, though my title for most realistic goes to this. It's essentially a two-hour chase movie with excellent performances and a desperate need for a SteadyCam. Yes, the camera work is still jittery and unstill as the second one, and in the action scenes half the time you have no idea who's hitting who.

But, despite the movie keeping you grasped from start to finish, the best scenes are with the corrupt CIA agent, played well by David Straithairn. He's doing wrong, he knows it, and uses it to embolden him. And, similar to last year's Casino Royale, the driving force of the movie is the principal actor, Matt Damon. He has long been one of the best actors in the business, and the Bourne series really started his reputation as an action hero. He handles the dramatic material with a really fierce intensity - and also dukes it out to the baddies very well.

In the beginning of the first film, a man named Jason Bourne is found adrift at sea. He doesn't remember who he is, and through out the series he gradually attempts to find out who he was. All he knows is that he volunteered for an CIA assassination program, and they have been out to kill him. The film begins, with a wounded Bourne attempting to find refuge in Moscow. He reads an article from The Guardian on him and an Operation Blackbriar. He goes to London to go to the journalist who wrote it, and find out the source.

But - ah-ah-ah. Our friends from the CIA gun down the journalist, but not before he gives his source. And another man with vital information is blown up - a la The Godfather. And once again, but not before the man with ALL the information is given away. So Bourne must go to New York City to find out the truth about who he is. He recieves help from local operative Nicky Persons, and old friend Pamela Landy. But with the entire CIA and several assassins after him, can Bourne stay alive another hour? Another day? B+