Bourne: El ultimátum

Finally getting round to seeing the original Bourne film trilogy, after hearing nothing but good things, there hasn't been any regret watching them. Wasn't sure initially as to whether they'd be my cup of tea or not, hence why it took so long to see them, but that was not the case.

'The Bourne Identity' was a very pleasant surprise, giving a fairly well-worn genre a much needed freshness. It had its imperfections, but was a very solid and even very good film with much to recommend and introduced a cast-against-type Matt Damon in one of his best roles. 'The Bourne Supremacy' was an example of a sequel that was every bit as good as its predecessor, maybe lacking its freshness but also made a few improvements along the way. The original Bourne trilogy ends with 'The Bourne Ultimatum', which has been regarded often as the best of the three, cannot disagree.

Some of the hand-held shaky cam is used a little too excessively (epileptics be warned!) and the ending could have been a little less frenetic and confused and had more careful tying things together and explanation.

Visually, on the other hand, a vast majority of the time 'The Bourne Ultimatum' like its predecessors looks slick and stylish with even more breath-taking locations. There were many instances when the hand-held shaky cam did intensify the tense claustrophobia of the atmosphere and intensity to very good effect, never making things incomprehensible.

Like 'The Bourne Supremacy', the music score is even more dynamic, atmosphere enhancing and more layered this time round, while Paul Greengrass' drama-documentary style and background to his directing is used to full advantage. 'The Bourne Ultimatum' has the sharpest, most intelligent and subtle script of the three films, in a way that is just dazzling.

The story never lets go of its grip and never strains credibility or reality. It is a tense adrenaline rush throughout, with the best mix of exciting action, the best of it is absolutely thrilling, and meaty story-telling, with lots of emotion and characterisation meat, that develops Bourne the best of all three films. Paul Greengrass' directing style and his experience in drama-documentary is once again used to full advantage.

Matt Damon has really made the character of Bourne his own, at the time of 'The Bourne Identity' it was very much a cast-against-type role but now it is one of his best. Julia Stiles and particularly Joan Allen are marvellous, as is a suitably malevolent David Strathairn, and while the supporting cast are a little underused they all do uniformly sterling work (one would be very hard pressed to get a bad performance out of Albert Finney for example).

In conclusion, what a conclusion to the Bourne trilogy. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Jason Bourne sits in a dusty room in with blood on his hands, trying to make sense of what he's just done. Meanwhile, a CIA chief in NYC outlines the agency's response to what's just happened on screen. An American flag stands proudly on the centre of his desk in the foreground of the shot, but as he speaks, it slips out of focus as his plan veers into morally dubious territory, as if it doesn't want to be associated with the course of action the government man decides is necessary in the interests of national security.

This shot effectively captures the mood of the film. As well as portraying Bourne's quest to find out how he became Jason Bourne, Ultimatum is also an examination of the human costs of the measures taken to protect us in the interests of stability and security.

It is also probably the best film you'll see in the cinema this year.

It's just so intense. Bourne says to Simon Ross (Considine) "This isn't some newspaper story, this is real" and in the audience you almost believe him. The camera shakes, but remains steady enough for you to see everything and feel like you're there with Bourne as he tries to elude his pursuers, and the performances are so good that these guys seem as though they are the characters they're portraying, instead of just being actors performing well-written roles. The action scenes are so brutally fast-paced and well choreographed that they seem instinctive instead of planned to the minutest movement; the stunt-work is nothing short of amazing.

The pacing is just incredible. It keeps driving forward towards its conclusion, but not so fast that it leaves you struggling to piece together the plot; the script delivers the information you need as quickly and clearly as possible before moving on to the next tense action set-piece. While they're often simple (the Waterloo sequence is essentially just a man on a phone being watched by a man on a phone) they're charged with such dramatic intensity that you can't take your eyes off them. The film is just so focused on powering forwards that you can't help being swept along by it.

With its intense action set-pieces, brilliantly paced storyline, and intelligent examination of the decisions made in the name of national security, the Bourne series is one that accurately captures the ambiguities of our age. Ultimatum is its peak.

Here we have one of those rare franchises that constantly gets better and better. The great thing about it is that Director Paul Greengrass is back and better than ever. He brings more realism and technique in this sequel than he did in the last film.

Matt Damon has gotten older and into the character more perfectly to where he seems to be living the role and realistically the character. I can't really picture anyone else in the role at this point. David Starthairn is just magnificent and Julia Stiles was surprisingly quite excellent.

The chases sequences are some of the best, and the like it or hate the shaky cinematography – it does exactly what is necessary and right on point. The intent is to be agitated as you watch the film, which is exactly the point. The intent is to feel and experience what Jason Bourne is experiencing and feeling. The cinematography technique works brilliantly.

I have always felt that one of the possible issues for people, as it was for me, was that my expectations were extremely high. This is by far the best of the trilogy, and one great thriller. I loved the fact that the film was not over the top and is so grounded like a documentary.

"The Bourne Ultimatum" begins recklessly mid-chase and in pulse-pounding fashion explodes from there as Jason Bourne (Matt Damon, absolutely superb) tracks down the masterminds behind the CIA black-ops that turned him into the perfect killer in a final attempt to learn his true identity. A devastatingly icy David Strathairn as the "man behind the curtain" is added to the returning cast of regulars including Joan Allen (excellent) and Julia Stiles (non-existent).

Like the second entry in the series, I wished Paul Greengrass' shaky hand-held camera would go static at least for the few minutes of downtime. However, that being said, it's a perfect way to capture the tense, claustrophobic feel of the intimate hand-to-hand-combat scenes and works equally well in the chase scenes which are mostly on foot and across rooftops with the occasional big car pile-up. Part of the fun of the Bourne series is the constant globe-hopping and manipulation of technology and communications that seem to defy the laws of physics and current capabilities. The Bourne films seem to exist in some sort of gritty hyper-reality that is full of technological-based magic. It makes no sense that everyone seems to be just in the right place at the right time, but I'll be damned if it isn't a blast to watch them get there.

With the absence of the emotive and involving Franka Potente, the writers attempt to create some emotional connection between Damon and Stiles, but she is so blank-faced an actress it never really leads to anything. Still, this can be forgiven, for unlike the "Identity" and the "Supremacy", this "Ultimatum" reveals all and we finally learn the truth about Bourne's past. It's an entertaining and satisfying conclusion to the series, and if they have any good sense, and Damon gets his wish, this will be the perfect end to it.

Paul Greengrass definitely saved the best Bourne for last! I've heard a lot of people complain about they way he filmed this movie, and some have even compared the camera style to the Blair Witch Project. All I have to say to that is...are you kidding me? Come on it was not that bad at all. I think it helps the action scenes to feel more realistic, which I would prefer over highly stylized stunt choreography. As for the rest of the movie I really didn't even notice it.

You can tell that Damon has really gotten comfortable with the role of Jason Bourne. Sometimes that can be a bad thing, but in this case its a really good thing. He really becomes Jason Bourne in this installment. Damon also has a great supporting cast in Joan Allen, Ezra Kramer, and Julia Stiles. David Strathairn was a great addition to the cast, as he added more depth to the secret CIA organization.

Even though the movie is filled with great car chases and nonstop action, they managed to stick a fair amount of character development in their with all of that going on. This film stands far above the other two Bourne movies, and is definitely one of the best movies of the 2007 summer season!