image © Universal Pictures
Bourne is living up to his reputation. And now the lightning-quick super-spy on the screen is coming for them. A long day at the office awaits. “This is the toughest target you’ve ever tracked.”
image © Universal Pictures
Matt Damon is looking deadly as Bourne. Having exacted revenge for the death of his lover in The Bourne Supremacy, he now seeks to discover what made him the one man army he is. He wants to remember everything they erased from his mind.
With nothing to lose, Bourne follows a string of clues taking him through Russia, London and Madrid before the return to the centre of ‘the grid’ in New York. The bad guys are always one step behind. With every skip of the globe, Bourne pummels them, fractures them and blows them up. He’s unstoppable.
image © Universal Pictures
The audience at our screening were moved to applause on several occasions. The rampage through Waterloo station sticks in the memory - a delicious mixture of familiarity and Bourne’s brand of high-espionage butt-kickage. It’s what we’ve come to expect from the series. But these frenetic action scenes are truly unrivalled. Each move is precisely choreographed to look un-choreographed. There’s never once a moment of glamour amid the violence. Every blow is felt.
There’s intelligence bolstering the bedlam. Bourne isn’t a bullet-proof hero who miraculously emerges unscathed from every shootout. He’s simply too smart for his opponents. He’ll only bring the carnage if he has to. Fortunately for us, with half the CIA bearing down on him, that’s pretty often.
And, as before, Matt Damon fits the role perfectly. The murderous streak is brought out further this time round, threatening to take him over. The innocence of The Bourne Identity is lost. But essentially it’s the same straight, serious character. Damon’s plain features and blank expressions still contrast brilliantly with the character’s superhuman capabilities. He’s still got something of the everyman about him. And that makes him far more intimidating than any muscle-clad shooter. It’s been said before. But he is the antithesis of the 21st century action hero.
The franchise wraps satisfyingly. After three instalments on the run with Bourne, we’re left with a neat resolution and a pang of sorrow at the realisation that it’s all over. Ultimatum is neither better nor worse than its two precursors. It simply maintains the electrifying pulse that permeates through the trilogy, pushing the envelope in all the right places. It’s amazing that such a plain no-frills actor as Matt Damon has become the defining action hero of the decade. But nothing else comes close to Bourne.
Bauer? Pah! Bond? Meh... Bourne is best!
