In a summer filled with lacklustre sequels, it comes as a great relief that 'The Bourne Ultimatum' stands out from the crowd. The seemingly indestructible super spy, Jason Bourne is back, doing what he does best by smashing-up cars, breaking bones of unlucky assailants and generally being a nuisance to the CIA.
In his third outing, Bourne is still trying to piece together fragments of his memory to try and recall his dark past. Following a tapestry of clues and leads across the world, he is now on the hunt for the man who originally trained him, to discover how he became an assassin.
The globetrotting action sequences in 'Ultimatum' are some of the series' best yet with a breakneck car chase set in Manhattan and a bone-crunching fistfight in Tangier being some of the spectacular highlights. The audience almost feels each agonising blow and crash, as the handheld camera weaves in and out of the action at excessive speeds, creating a hyper-kinetic intensity to the visuals.
This shaky camerawork and rapid-fire editing has become a staple of Paul Greengrass' filmmaking and often to the chagrin of the audience.
The car chase sequence for instance is occasionally disorientating, and when the camera constantly shakes about during quiet conversation exchanges, it can become discomforting. But thankfully for the most part, this technique works exceptionally, and the combat is so impressively executed that it'll leave you breathless.
In fact the whole pace of Ultimatum is fairly relentless. Bourne bounces around from country to country at an alarming rate, and unfortunately this does result in sacrificing some of the emotional resonance that previous entries exhibited. Matt Damon seems to have fewer lines than ever, and while Bourne was never exactly a conversationalist, his lack of dialogue here certainly creates a slight barrier between him and the audience.
The rest of the cast, while delivering strong performances also have little to do. Paddy Constantine while featuring in one of the films best sequences (a game of 'hide and seek' with the CIA at Waterloo Station), is sadly wasted in his role as an investigative reporter, while series returnees Julia Stiles and Joan Allen have reasonably thankless roles. Edgar Ramirez as the dangerous assassin Paz fares better though and David Strathairn is on fine form as a dastardly CIA chief, who is sorely lacking in morals. His reserved take on Bourne's principal antagonist is one of the films greatest assets, and his acting prowess is on fine form.
While 'The Bourne Ultimatum' could simply be considered another a summer blockbuster, it is certainly one of the most intelligent action franchises in a long time. It's true that it often defies logic and the plot occasionally veers on being ridiculous (Bourne's ability to allude CIA operatives at every turn is borderline outlandish), but this film demonstrates confident filmmaking. The action is first class and the technical prowess of Greengrass and his team is unbeatable.
This may very well be the last ever Bourne film and if that's the case, this series will surely be remembered as one of the strongest trilogies around. But at the very least, 'The Bourne Ultimatum' is probably the most exhilarating ride you'll find at the cinema this summer.
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