The Bourne Ultimatum

[cron]

it'd be cooler if home were snowdon, wales. consider the action..

[Gold Trumpet]

Spoilers......This is really good.

It doesn't re-establish what made The Bourne Identity good, but it is a quality non-stop thrill ride. The action sequences aren't repititious or limited like in Supremacy, but intricate and well thought out here. The film kept surprising me with new twists and details to the action. Nothing was too overblown or ridiculous, but tightly focused and a lot of fun.

I think this is the movie Live Free or Die Hard wanted to be, a continuous amount of action scenes for just a good time. Of course Die Hard had the dumbest overblown ideas and didn't even tie the action scenes into the story. Ultimatum managed to have multiple storylines mixed into the action, like when Bourne is evading police by jumping roof tops while trying to locate and save Nikki from an assasin.

The film didn't try to do too much. It just is what it is. I expected a melodramatic ending with Bourne getting his freedom but it ended a much subtler note.

As a sidenote, I hope this isn't the end. The film suggested there was a backstory between Bourne and Nikki. It should resolve that.

[Kal]

I agree with everything GT said, expect that Die Hard and this are completely different movies. Die Hard is a little absurd on purpose and this one stays more within realistic possibilities (even though at some points goes borderline).

This was for sure one of the best summer movies, and probably the best sequel of the year (which wasnt too hard to accomplish). I was excited and entertained and happy every minute of it.

SPOILERS

I loved the action scenes and how the story came together. I was wondering how they were going to match the ending of the 2 with how this one started but it was all perfect. The Nikki/Bourne thing was cool and I liked that they left it there. The ending was excellent... when the music started playing I wanted to jump.

I dont know how soon there will be another one, but I know somebody now took over the writing for the new Bourne books. If they write more books they will probably make more movies. I hope Damon is on board because he is impressive and great in this role. He is a badass Jack Bauer / James Bond character.

[MacGuffin]

I'm with GT. This was very good. It keeps the consistancy of the character and series, making for a great bookend for the trilogy (if it does end here).

My only gripe is, like the tunnel chase of Supremacy, the jumpy, bouncy handheld camera work in some of the chases is just way too disorienting and distracting.

[The Red Vine]

My only gripe is, like the tunnel chase of Supremacy, the jumpy, bouncy handheld camera work in some of the chases is just way too disorienting and distracting.

I don't like Greengrass as a director. It's fine if he wants to build tension, but his camera tricks become nauseating.

I wish the film would have built to a little more instead of repeating many of the themes of the second movie. What we're left with is a very, very long chase sequence. Nothing more.

And they even used old faithful.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with!"

[Kal]

It had the biggest August opening ever (70M) and a lot more than the other Bourne films... so probably the 4th one is already in pre-production starting tomorrow... I wonder when the book comes out.

[MacGuffin]

My only gripe is, like the tunnel chase of Supremacy, the jumpy, bouncy handheld camera work in some of the chases is just way too disorienting and distracting.

I don't like Greengrass as a director. It's fine if he wants to build tension, but his camera tricks become nauseating.

I actually blame the Second Unit Director:

According to Bradley, the real secret to avoiding action that looks staged in the "Bourne" films is rehearsing a great deal then going for a chaotic and frenetic blend of action. "I tell my camera department that I really want to feel lucky that I got to see the moment," said Bradley, who, as second unit director, typically runs a second unit camera crew. "I don't want them putting the cross hairs on the action and panning on the scene perfectly. I would rather feel like it's going so fast and furiously that it's really hard to keep in the frame. The hard part is that camera guys train their entire careers not to do that. They train to make it smooth and perfect. I just go in and tell them to 'F it up more.' "

[B.C. Long]

I sorta dig the shaky camera work. Not so much when they're doing car chases, but the fight scenes I think feel more intense because of the technique.

[pete]

ah, that's what happens when directors don't know how to do action and leave the best parts of their movies to stunt coordinators.

[Pozer]

I'm with GT. This was very good. It keeps the consistancy of the character and series, making for a great bookend for the trilogy (if it does end here).

My only gripe is, like the tunnel chase of Supremacy, the jumpy, bouncy handheld camera work in some of the chases is just way too disorienting and distracting.

was gonna say i agree with GT but this one actually holds the par perfectly which is still (as noted) in agreeance with Geets.

[Gold Trumpet]

Well, the filmmaking by Greengrass isn't going to change. No matter what the story is. I've come to accept it. I thought he could have filmed this a lot better. Making it look standard wouldn't have worked though. The gritty feel makes this Bourne film work a lot better. He just could have had some workable scheme. Greengrass doesn't have different speeds to his editing. He doesn't have different variations. It is all gritty and intense.

He's a limited filmmaker, but this film is good because of the well thought out action scenes. It is good for how perfect Matt Damon is as Jason Bourne. Greengrass being erratic won't make or break it.

[Pozer]

I'm with GT. This was very good. It keeps the consistancy of the character and series, making for a great bookend for the trilogy (if it does end here).

My only gripe is, like the tunnel chase of Supremacy, the jumpy, bouncy handheld camera work in some of the chases is just way too disorienting and distracting.

was gonna say i agree with GT but this one actually holds the par perfectly which is still (as noted) in agreeance with Geets.

edit: this actually sums up best the way i feel about the movie http://youtube.com/watch?v=gnPWJOJYVKc

[pete]

so I went and saw this movie and it was pretty good.  the fights were pretty cool.  well-placed too.  the pacing and the buildup to the fight in the waterloo station and then later in morocco were both pretty great.  they also managed to make pakour seem less trendy.  the filmmaking was fairly standard-- high tech stuff with a handheld camera, but it got the job done.  I know I'm the only one on this board that talks about fight choreography, but they clearly took a combination that was inspired by Fist of Legend!

[SiliasRuby]

I really really really loved this. It was constructed very well and I couldn't wait to know where it was going. I also was anticipating his move to NYC. The car chase scenes were amazing and had me clenching because I hate being i car cashes and I've been in more than my fair share of them. But man, was this movie worth it, my only drawback I have to say is that the hand held camera work got a bit redundent and left me with some motion sickness. But so did Hard candy and Irreversible and I still got those on DVD.

[Redlum]

I loved this, too. What really impressed me is how they managed to keep all the trademarks of a Bourne film (Car chase, hand-to-hand assassin combat, hazy flashbacks and CIA tracking) without once feeling forced. To do that whilst topping Identity and Supremacy on both scale and execution in all those elements is really impressive.

I'm looking forward to finding out about that window jump shot. I'm guessing it was some kind of Skycrane. I don't feel bad to admire this film so much for its technical execution because this series has married filmmaking technique perfectly with the material. Okay, with the fight choreography, as Pete says, there is some borrowing and I'm reminded of Friedkin with The Hunted (and obviously The French Connection) for a lot of the chase and combat scenes.

And yes, there have been others before the Bourne series and there'll probably be more but I think this is the first film of it's kind to get it really right. To do this as a series of three equally successful films is unprecedented and rare.

As a sidenote, I hope this isn't the end. The film suggested there was a backstory between Bourne and Nikki. It should resolve that.

I've been wondering what could possibly bring the Bourne team back but this is it. Exactly right.