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The Bourne Ultimatum

Written By Nobuhiro Hosoki

 

"The Bourne Ultimatum" is an adrenalin-pumping, kick-ass flick. An amnesiac man of action, Jason Bourne (Matt Demon), is discovered floating in the Mediterranean.  He has been desperately seeking details about the covert operation program that made him who he is today. In his quest, he sprints all over Europe, searching for promising leads from a journalist (Paddy Considine) who's also looking into the secretive program. Then there's CIA Chief Noah Vosen (David Stranthairn), who runs the team with an arrogance and sets up the extreme surveillance equipment to monitor Jason's every move.

Just as Jason thoughts begin to shed light on his hazy past, the journalist gets a bullet in his head. Through a front-page story in a London newspaper, he finds himself once again a target. Noah starts to send all of his squads to dispose of Jason before anyone discovers the truth. Throughout, Matt Damon embodies human weapons with an unbelievable amount of physical energy, resulting in one of the most stoic heros since Toshiro Mifune.

You feel the temperature rising out of these great cast assemblies: returning actress Julia Styles as spy Nicky Parsons, who risks her job and her life to help him; Joan Allen as Pamela Landy, a skeptical CIA investigator whose intelligence  make us develops some sympathy for a Jason that she's still targeting; and Albert Finney as Dr, Hirsh, who pulls off a grand acting job with cynicism.

Director Greengrass challenges himself by staging chase sequences in crowded public places, engaging us with this thrill ride that brings surprise at every turn. The third installment is an apt culmination of the last two films. You feel as if your neck has just had a good workout. In the end, they claim that this is the last stab at the series, but we hope we'll keep hearing those words,  "My name is Bourne, Jason Bourne."

Directed by Paul Greengrass
Written by Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi
Based on the novel by Robert Ludlum
Director of photography:Oliver Wood
Edited by Christopher Rouse
Music by John Powell
Production designer: Peter Wenham
Produced by Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley and Paul L. Sandberg
Released by Universal Pictures.
Running time: 111 minutes.

Cast: Matt Damon (Jason Bourne)
Julia Stiles (Nicky Parsons)
David Strathairn (Noah Vosen)
Scott Glenn (Ezra Kramer)
Paddy Considine (Simon Ross)
Edgar Ramirez (Paz)
Albert Finney (Dr. Albert Hirsch),
and Joan Allen (Pam Landy).