MORE THAN SUMMER POPCORN
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
Directed by Paul
Greengrass; written by Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns, and George Nolfi, based
on the novel by Robert Ludlum; cinematography by Oliver Wood; editing by
Christopher Rouse; production design by Peter Wenham; original music by John
Powell; art direction by Robert Cowper, Jason Knox-Johnston, and Andy
Nicholson; set decoration by Tina Jones; costume design by Shay Cunliffe
With: Matt Damon,
Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Joan Allen, Scott Glenn, Albert Finney,
Paddy Considine, Daniel Brühl, Edgar Ramirez, Joey Ansah, and Colin Stinton.
Rated PG-13. Running time: 111 minutes
Reviewed by Joel
Johnson
Those of you who have read my reviews over the years have
probably deduced the following. However for those who may be reading one of
my reviews for the first time (or with only a few predecessors), I should
disclose to you that my preference is for films that have stories that are
engaging and thought provoking. For that reason, when I am choosing films to
see at the video (actually DVD) store, I tend to find them on the racks
marked “Drama.” I don’t tend to spend a lot of time perusing the “Action”
shelves. Therefore, it was surprising when I found myself enjoying this
quintessential action movie so much.
This action movie
is not altogether that much different from most other action films. There is
the typical emphasis on maintaining a fast pace. There are sections where
the action slows but never quite enough to allow the viewer to take the time
to stop and ask this question, “Does this really make sense?” Most action
films don’t make a lot of sense and don’t want the audience thinking too
much about it. For instance, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) travels from Russia
(where The Bourne Supremacy leaves off) to Germany, France,
Britain, Spain, Morocco, and, finally, to the United States. Despite a
highly sophisticated multifaceted surveillance system that George W. Bush
and Dick Cheney can only dream about, Bourne manages to move around at will,
and, except for a trans-Mediterranean ferry ride from Spain to Morocco, we
have no idea how he travels, how he pays for it, and how he manages to elude
the rogue elements in the Central Intelligence Agency who are moving heaven
and earth to find him so they can kill him. There are a number of other
aspects of the film that need the audience’s “willing suspension of
disbelief” in order to work. So what makes it work so well?
Director Paul Greengrass has shown the capacity to
successfully marry the intimacy and realism of documentary-style filmmaking
with high-energy action filmmaking. This starts with the camera work.
Hand-held cameras are used extensively. Most of the fight sequences are shot
up-close-and-personal with the combatants. This provides you-are-there
perspective but not an omniscient one. The blows are often better heard than
seen. The foley artists are definitely earning their money by making all the
sounds vividly real. The footage then needs to be edited, carefully using
quick cuts to heighten the pace of the action. The result is an incredibly
intense and breath-taking film that makes the viewers feel that they are
continually running, riding a motorbike, or racing a car to follow the
action.
Another reason for
the success of The Bourne Ultimatum is the writing. It is
written sparely with a focus on the essential story elements, and then it is
performed absolutely straight. There are no nudge-nudge-wink-wink moments,
like when a character delivers some pithy variation on the Alfred E. Newman
“What! Me worry?” line while facing down gunfire and explosions. Bourne
boasts no bon mots of derring-do. Likewise, the film does not decide to
throw in a love scene just because certain members of the audience may want
to see the actors nude or appearing to have sex. These types of scenes can
stop the momentum of a story in its tracks. If a love scene isn’t an organic
part of the film’s story, the film will only succeed in getting listed in
the kind of publications and websites (as described in Knocked Up)
that catalogue what “good parts” can be seen and where in a film to find
them. Bourne and Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) have some scenes together that
allude to their history together, but we never learn the exact nature of
that history, and there’s no scene for them to catch up on whatever affaire
de coeur they may have once had.
Rarely are there
many opportunities for actors to shine in action films that are driven by
plot as opposed to character. Furthermore, a big-name cast can often become
a distraction because a big star’s persona may outsize the role that he or
she plays. The audience is more impressed with noticing the star than with
whatever the star’s character does in advancing the action of the film.
Therefore, it is unique that The Bourne Ultimatum has such a
superb cast, with eight actors who have routinely played leading roles in
other films, and four of these actors have been nominated for acting Oscars.
Most of these high-powered actors play supporting roles. So it is important,
despite the varying size of their roles, that all the actors have enough of
a role on the pages of the script to develop into a meaningful character.
With a good foundation in the script, the talented, high-profile actors are
able to use their exemplary skills to be a tremendous asset—not a
liability—to the film.
The original
Bourne books by the late Robert Ludlum came out during the last few
years of the Cold War. The stories the films tell have been updated to plug
into contemporary concerns. The unchecked and overweening use of all manner
of surveillance is one example. There are other images dredged from the
depths of Bourne’s deeply suppressed memories that show hooded captives—just
like we have seen countless times in footage of Iraq, Afghanistan, and
Guantanamo—as well as the apparent use of the controversial interrogation
technique waterboarding. The film has no reference to Iraq, Osama bin Laden,
Al Qaeda, or the “War on Terror,” but the story of an intelligence agency
running amok across the globe definitely feels like a story for today and
not something that may have gotten its initial germination from testimony
delivered to Senator Frank Church’s committee investigating CIA misconduct
in the 1970s.
Like all good
action movies, The Bourne Ultimatum is a thrill ride with a few plot
holes that it hopes you won’t see or spend much time thinking about.
However, it is a thrill ride that is played straight with an all-out full
commitment to the reality of the story. The largely overlooked stars of the
film in that commitment to verisimilitude are the army of stunt specialists
and performers that dwarfs the cast of actors. However, unlike nearly every
other action movie that comes along, the filmgoer will care about how it
ends and will think about the issues that it raises. That makes this a very
special film indeed.
