Bourne Ultimatum Kills and Thrills
Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass Team Again
By: Charles Giuliano - Aug 11, 2007
This third time around in Bourne Ultimatum there isn't much of a plot. By now we know a lot about Jason Bourne the rogue, black ops agent who is intent on deprogramming from officially induced amnesia. In a backhanded compliment the government agent intent on eliminating him with extreme prejudice Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) and the CIA bureaucrat Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) who would like to bring him in unharmed and unravel the mess are constantly reminding us that he is the best in the field. Now and then Vosen unleashes an "associate" who has the same training and capability as Bourne but is still with the program.
Which is, to do the bidding of Vosen and his shadow agency under the clandestine orders of a government within a government that reaches, with a lot of controls and disclaimers, into the Oval Office. Sound familiar? Of course this is just fiction and a movie so this could never happen in real life. Right. Too much of the really chilling dialogue sounds like it has been composed by eavesdropping on conversations between Dick Cheney, Carl Rove, Alberto Gonzales, and Condoleezza Rice.
This is yet another action adventure film seemingly ripped from the headlines as recently President Bush again asked Congress to further erode the Constitution seeking a free hand to snoop on Americans phoning and e mailing abroad. No probable cause is needed or such inconveniences as subpoenas and other liberal nonsense in the unrelenting war on terrorists and evil doers.
Is it just a fantasy as Vosen from his Langley based control room is able by satellite, cell phone and camcorder to micromanage the frenzied search and destroy attempt to terminate Bourne? Is this level of instant action credible? If it is so plausible in the movies why then, almost six years after 9/11 are Osama Bin Laden and his gang still on the loose? For all its bluff and bluster are the Black Ops of the Bush administration just the gang that can't shoot straight?
Bourne is constantly demonstrating his ability to evade and subvert the best efforts of Vosen and his army of agents and formidable arsenal of technologies. In a compelling moment Bourne lures Vosen out of his control center and into the street just long enough to break into his office, crack the safe, and ultimately turn incriminating files over to the good cop Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) who ultimately causes a Congressional Investigation that brings down the bad guys. Or are they? Vosen and his associates, including the evil Dr. Albert Hirsch (Albert Finney) who programmed Bourne and other special agent/ assassins, believe that they are patriots keeping America safe from its enemies. Perhaps they are.
But Landy, the heart and soul of America, draws the line when Vosen orders the elimination of the special agent Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) who appears to have been captured and flipped by Bourne. "She is one of ours" Landy protests asking if we start eliminating our own agents just where will it stop? Indeed. While we are on the subject, what about the Bill of Rights and the whole friggin Constitution?
There is much to enjoy about this film. It is far and away the best action adventure film I have ever seen. Mostly because the direction and pace provided by Paul Greengrass are absolutely relentless. He pauses only long enough for us to absorb new characters such as the journalist Simon Ross (Paddy Considine) who stumbles onto the covert ops/ assasinations and is targeted for hasty elimination. Bourne almost saves him. And we also meet a wonderful character, Nicky Parsons, who is played with remarkable, understated restraint by the superbly gifted Julia Stiles. She doesn't have much to say but her actions and eyes speak volumes. Undoubtedly we will encounter her in the inevitable Bourne Four.
Inevitable because Bourne (who now knows his true identity and has brought down his nemesis) was killed but not really. For a very long time it appears that he is dead having been shot and jumped off a ten story building into water below. Then we see him swimming to the surface. In a café, somewhere on the lam, Parsons learns of his demise and smiles when the news conveys that the body has not been recovered.
What about next time? Will he remain in the field? Is he the spy who can't come in from the cold? Is there too much blood on his hands? Or will he form a new partnership with Landy and continue the good fight for justice and freedom. And, of course, will he consummate a relationship with the lovely Nicky Parsons? His former girlfriend was eliminated in India and, well, boys will be boys. Particularly when they are handsome and gifted, natural born killers.