A David Vs CIA Drama. Review on The Bourne Ultimatum Movie

This is the end of the tether for the amnesiac agent. Or is it? Bourne’s adventures ended with “Bourne Ultimatum’ in novelist Robert Ludlum’s trilogy, on which this rather successful franchise of action thrillers is loosely based. But the screen alter ego doesn't necessarily show any conclusive signs of letting up just yet. He reprises here to vacillate once again between writhing in pain and wreaking vengeance, showing his vulnerability and valor in balanced measures.

The third episode melds seamlessly with previous developments in the evolving story. It also builds up  a new plot rather nicely from where it left off. Director Paul Greengrass and script writer Tony Gilroy apply their creativity and efforts to craft yet another gripping chapter in this continuing saga of David vs Goliath. When this installment opens in Moscow, Jason Bourne is still very tormented by the murder of his wife, Marie, in Goa. He also begins to clench his grip ever so tightly on his real identity. The David Webb in him wants to go back to where it all began - to the rogue operation, Blackbriar, within CIA which morphed him into the phantom killer, Jason Bourne. He is now a Frankenstein, a machine coming back at its maker(s). He is out to  avenge the murders - Marie’s, his own, of his real identity as David that is, and the many others that he had committed as his employers’ robotic assassin. He wages his own stone and sling attack against the establishment. His inexorable chase to hound down the nefarious elements inside the network is propelled by his own fury and ingenuity, and the support of two women who have their own scores to settle with the corrupt department – agent Nicky Parsons, and deputy director Pamela Landy.

The pace of the chess-like game that ensues, where each party unfailingly tries to read the other’s next two moves and tries to stay clear of them, is just as frenetic as we have come to expect of the series. It bears the signature stamp reflective of the mood of the protagonist and of the matching style of narration chosen. Something that Director Doug Liman(who is now the executive producer) chose to start off with, to create a distinctive blend of tension and energy for ‘Bourne Identity’, and which Paul Greengrass further improvised on with his last attempt with ‘Bourne Supremacy’. With ‘Bourne Ultimatum’ the intensity is perhaps not surpassed, but it definitely is sustained. Matt Damon’s melancholic and gritty portrayal of Jason/David accentuates the texture further and makes the character an unlikely, yet convincing, action hero. In Tony Gilroy’s screen adaptation of Ludlum’s work, elements of the Cold War espionage and legendary ghost characters like Carlos the Jackal duly fade into the background and stay allusive, to give room to high energy action sequences, powerful drama, and, oh well, some cinematic shenanigans of spying and being spied on. Far from looking hokey, these gimmicks look quite slick and taut. If the ‘the big brother is watching you’ flavor of these sequences seems a bit farfetched, one only needs to realize that with a GPS cell phone, such as a Blackberry or an iPhone, and Google Earth, anything is possible now.

Cinematography by Oliver Wood is another reason why this package of action and thrills is as effective as it turns out to be. It is debatable if the action is engineered to follow the camera, or if Wood’s crew always finds the best angle to capture the action from, but the proceedings always look more live than choreographed. The angles include in-your-face handheld coverage of combats, and sweeping and active aerial shots of car chases in New York, Paris, London, and Tangier(Morocco). What a coordination/synchronization effort that must have been - both to shoot and then to edit, huh? The movie did win the Oscar for Best Film Editing. John Powell’s music does its part well to drum in the right audio effects. The movie also won Oscars for Best Sound  and Best Sound Editing.

Matt Damon is very ably supported by the rest of the lead cast. Jason’s nemesis, director Vosen, is convincingly played by David Strathairn with the right air of insecurity and wickedness. Joan Allen as Pamela Landy is quite impressive with her commanding poise and presence. Julia Stiles as Nicky shows how one can be frightened enough to be quiet, and yet indignant enough to fight back.

It is a low budget action movie - not lavish, but very sincere.