Bourne Ultimatum (12A.)
Directed by Paul Greengrass.
Starring Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Joan Allen, Scott Glenn, Albert Finney. 111 mins
Audiences are going to lap up this third instalment of the Bourne series - after a summer of toys and kids and superheroes it’s going to feel like they’re being treated like grownups again.
It throws you straight into the action. There’s no concession to those viewers who haven’t seen previous instalments about the amnesiac American assassin, or indeed those who weren’t paying close attention. I mean, I quite enjoyed the Bournes Identity and Supremacy, but I didn’t realise they’d be setting a test.
It lives up to its title – among fans I’d be surprised if this isn’t soon considered to be the ultimate Bourne adventure. It has a relentless energy and drive that sees it take in five different countries in the opening ten minutes and the pace doesn’t ever relent. I was surprised by how much of a cohesive trilogy the films have turned out to be.
By some broad plot changes they’ve turned a traditional pool side read into a critique of the CIA and War on Terror. Beneath it all though it is still just that thriller writer standard, the tale of the sad assassin. This time loner Bourne (Damon) is closing in on finding out his true identity.
Paul Greengrass returns as director and again employs his trademark fast cutting editing style with the camera constantly moving, zooming in and out of the action. At its best it gives you an omnipresent innocent bystander view of the action. It’s incredibly accomplished but it is becoming clear that this is all he does. It was thrilling and daring when he made Sunday Bloody Sunday for ITV but after The Bourne Supremacy and United 93 you may begin to resent his one-style-fits-all approach. The way critics rave about him you’d think NYPD Blue had never happened.
He specialises in close up fisty cuffs in confined spaces that are absolutely brutal but so deftly edited you don’t see anything explicit. That’s true of the whole film though – afterwards you feel pumped up like you’ve seen a really thumping good action thriller when in fact you haven’t actually seen anything. If I go to see a film with car chases in it I want to see cars roar down the streets, not just fleeting glimpses of them screeching round corners. This is less storytelling, more subliminal advertising.
It’s a strange dichotomy. Greengrass is a committed, serious filmmaker who graduated from World in Action and co-authored Spycatcher, someone who wants audiences to question authority and probe deeper than surface. Yet his style forces them to ignore the big picture and just concentrate on the spectacle of what’s right in front of you.
Directed by Paul Greengrass.
Starring Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Joan Allen, Scott Glenn, Albert Finney. 111 mins
Audiences are going to lap up this third instalment of the Bourne series - after a summer of toys and kids and superheroes it’s going to feel like they’re being treated like grownups again.
It throws you straight into the action. There’s no concession to those viewers who haven’t seen previous instalments about the amnesiac American assassin, or indeed those who weren’t paying close attention. I mean, I quite enjoyed the Bournes Identity and Supremacy, but I didn’t realise they’d be setting a test.
It lives up to its title – among fans I’d be surprised if this isn’t soon considered to be the ultimate Bourne adventure. It has a relentless energy and drive that sees it take in five different countries in the opening ten minutes and the pace doesn’t ever relent. I was surprised by how much of a cohesive trilogy the films have turned out to be.
By some broad plot changes they’ve turned a traditional pool side read into a critique of the CIA and War on Terror. Beneath it all though it is still just that thriller writer standard, the tale of the sad assassin. This time loner Bourne (Damon) is closing in on finding out his true identity.
Paul Greengrass returns as director and again employs his trademark fast cutting editing style with the camera constantly moving, zooming in and out of the action. At its best it gives you an omnipresent innocent bystander view of the action. It’s incredibly accomplished but it is becoming clear that this is all he does. It was thrilling and daring when he made Sunday Bloody Sunday for ITV but after The Bourne Supremacy and United 93 you may begin to resent his one-style-fits-all approach. The way critics rave about him you’d think NYPD Blue had never happened.
He specialises in close up fisty cuffs in confined spaces that are absolutely brutal but so deftly edited you don’t see anything explicit. That’s true of the whole film though – afterwards you feel pumped up like you’ve seen a really thumping good action thriller when in fact you haven’t actually seen anything. If I go to see a film with car chases in it I want to see cars roar down the streets, not just fleeting glimpses of them screeching round corners. This is less storytelling, more subliminal advertising.
It’s a strange dichotomy. Greengrass is a committed, serious filmmaker who graduated from World in Action and co-authored Spycatcher, someone who wants audiences to question authority and probe deeper than surface. Yet his style forces them to ignore the big picture and just concentrate on the spectacle of what’s right in front of you.
