Director: Paul Greengrass
Producers: F. Marshall, P. Crowley, and P. L. Sandberg
Editing: Christoper Rouse
Composer: John Powell
Starring:
- Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
- Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons
- David Strathairn as Noah Vosen
- Joan Allen as Pamela Landy
- Albert Finney as Dr. Albert Hirsch
- Scott Glenn as Ezra Kramer
Plot and Critical Review: Former CIA covert operative Jason Bourne eludes Moscow police and goes into hiding after being shot by Russian F.S.B. agent Kirill. Six weeks later, Guardian correspondent Simon Ross meets with a source to discuss Bourne and Operation Treadstone. The CIA begin tracking Ross when he mentions "Operation Blackbriar" on a cell phone call to his editor. Bourne travels to Paris to inform Marie's brother, Martin, of her death and assures him he's hunting her killers. In London Bourne meets with Ross at Waterloo Station after learning of Ross' investigation of Treadstone. When Bourne realizes that the CIA is tracking Ross, he helps him evade capture, but Ross deviates from Bourne's instructions and is killed by Blackbriar "asset" Paz on orders from Blackbriar's director Noah Vosen.
CIA Director Ezra Kramer sends Pamela Landy, who unsuccessfully hunted Bourne six weeks earlier, to help Vosen after he spots Bourne in a CCTV camera feed. After searching Ross' notes, they deduce that his source was Neal Daniels, CIA Station Chief in Madrid, who was formerly involved in Treadstone and is actively involved in Blackbriar. Bourne, having taken Ross' bag after he was killed, is led to Daniels' Madrid office but finds it empty. Nicky Parsons, a former Treadstone support technician, arrives shortly after Bourne incapacitates the CIA field team sent by Vosen and Landy to capture him. She decides to help Bourne escape another incoming CIA squad and tells him Daniels fled to Tangiers. It's implied that Parsons and Bourne had a deep, possibly romantic relationship before he lost his memory.
Upon arriving in Tangiers, Parsons hacks into the CIA database to locate Daniels but fails, finding that Blackbriar asset Desh Bouksani has been tasked with killing him. Vosen learns of Parsons' log in attempt and orders Desh to kill her as well as Bourne, a decision Landy disagrees with. Afterwards, Vosen calls Kramer and confirms their intentions to use Landy as the scapegoat if things go wrong. Bourne tails Desh to Daniels but fails to prevent Daniels' death by a roadside bomb. He does, however, protect Parsons by strangling Desh after an intense hand-to-hand fight and later sends her into hiding. Upon examining the contents of Daniels' charred briefcase, Bourne finds the address of the deep cover CIA bureau in New York City where Vosen directs Blackbriar.
Bourne travels to New York; Landy receives a phone call (in a repetition of the final scene of The Bourne Supremacy) which is revealed to be tapped by Vosen. Landy thanks Bourne for the tape he sent her which revealed the corrupt dealings of former Treadstone director Ward Abbott, and also provides him that his real name is David Webb and his birthdate is 4/15/71. While speaking with Landy, Bourne notices Vosen storing highly classified materials in a safe in his office. Bourne tells Landy to "get some rest" because she "looks tired", which she and Vosen both understand to mean that he's currently surveilling her. Vosen then intercepts a text message sent to Landy from Bourne advising a location for a meet and leaves his office with a team to follow her. Bourne breaks into Vosen's office and steals classified Blackbriar documents and Vosen sends Paz after him, resulting in a car chase which ends with Paz forcing Bourne's stolen police car into a concrete divider. Bourne gets out and holds Paz at gunpoint before sparing his life and continuing on to 415 East 71st Street, memories of which were triggered by the false birthday he was given by Landy. Vosen also figures out Landy's code and warns Dr. Albert Hirsch, who ran Treadstone's behavior modification program, that Bourne is en route.
Landy meets Bourne outside the building and admits to her change of heart; that she's helping him because she hadn't signed up for programs like Treadstone and Blackbriar. Bourne gives her the Blackbriar files before going inside and Landy faxes them to a secondary witness with Vosen arriving just as the last page is successfully sent. Bourne meets with Hirsch in an upper level room and, with Hirsch's help, finally recollects that he was not forced into the program, but in fact volunteered. He proclaims to no longer be "Jason Bourne" and flees from Vosen's pursuing team to the roof. There, Paz confronts Bourne with why he didn't kill him when he had the chance. Bourne questions Paz as to his motives and repeats the dying words of "The Professor", a Treadstone assassin he killed years earlier: "Look at us... Look at what they make you give." Paz lowers his gun as Bourne runs to jump off the roof, but Vosen appears and shoots at Bourne as he leaps into the East River below.
Some time later, Landy is shown testifying before the Senate regarding Blackbriar. Parsons watches a television news broadcast about the exposure of Operation Blackbriar, the arrests of Hirsch and Vosen, a criminal investigation against Kramer for authorizing the operation, and that David Webb, a.k.a. Jason Bourne, was reportedly shot and fell into the East River. Upon hearing that his body has not been found after a three-day search, Parsons smiles; Bourne is shown swimming away underwater after his fall.
"The Bourne Ultimatum" is the sort of capstone every production company wants to see rest atop a successful film series. "Ultimatum" even managed to collect at the Oscars, winning awards for Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Sound Editing. Some people look down on the more "technical" awards, but it is no small feat for a spy film to do so well. Had it collected just one more Oscar, "Ultimatum" would have tied "No Country For Old Men" for most awards received at the 80th Academy Awards.
To date, the Borne films have grossed over $900 million dollars worldwide and collected dozens of awards. Matt Damon's consistent and committed performances have made Jason Bourne one of the most recognized and memorable characters in cinematic history. If there is any criticism to be had of the film, it is the for abuse of the "shaky-cam" technique in which the camera man literally shakes the camera to produce a sense of urgency and suspense in the scene. The technique does work, but when overused it can become disorienting and distracting to the viewer. I'd say I am more distracted, personally, by Michael Bay's "sunburst" technique which must be in over 90% of all the shots in the last two "Transformers" films. But every director needs a "signature look", I suppose.
My Rating: 7.5/10
Content to Caution:
V-3.5 - Intense violence, but not an extreme amount of gore or bloodiness.
L-2.5 - No comment.
DU-.5 - No comment.
RT-0 - No comment.
H/S-2 - The film is gripping, indeed. Very exciting!
CH-1 - No comment.
S/N-.5 - No comment.
The "Reel Revelation": "Remembering The Truth - Part 3"
Have you ever lost your keys? It is the worst, isn't it?! You're just about ready to walk out the front door and suddenly notice that you don't hear the jingling of your keys in your pocket. You search frantically in all of the obvious places but to no avail...they are lost! And now comes the fun; backtracking your steps, asking others if they've seen them, and so forth as precious time ticks away. Maybe you make it out the door on time, maybe you don't. In any case you probably leave feeling frazzled and frustrated. Isn't there an easy way to keep from losing our keys in the future?
That metaphor only goes so far (as all metaphors do), but it helps us to think about how we can keep track of our spiritual self, the self that is often lost and sometimes quite difficult to retrieve. No doubt you've heard someone say, "I just feel lost, like I can't find myself". We've probably all felt that way. What do you do to get back that sense of self? Here's what Jesus did...
"And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her. And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them. When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was. In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." (Mark 1:29-35)
I can't imagine that Jesus got much sleep that night. Afterall, "the whole city had gathered" to see Him, hear Him, touch Him, and be touched by Him! A long day of "work" and a short night of rest will throw anyone off center, and Jesus was no exception. We tire, and when we do, we forget who we are and what we're supposed to be doing. How did Jesus find Himself? The Gospels reveal that He rose early in the morning and took off, away from the crowds, to be by Himself to pray. He remembered His Father's words and dedicated Himself anew to the mission for which He was sent into the world. Do we do the same?
Returning to the key metaphor, you're no doubt aware that manufacturers have been investing great amounts of money and resource into "keyless entry" technology. What a convenience! Now you don't even have to leave your house to turn on your car. You can purchase touch pads or security systems to enter your home without a key. Very helpful, indeed! We're always finding ways to make life easier by making certain tasks more convenient to complete, but there's no convenient way to keep track of our "spiritual keys", for we are always being tested and challenged as the sticky fingers of this sinful world reach out to take away the knowledge and wisdom God has placed within us, the knowledge of His very self in our lives. This is where we must be on guard against the tremendous fads surrounding "easy spirituality" or "simple religion". In his "MASS", Leonard Bernstein penned these memorable lyrics:
"Sing God a simple song
Lauda, laude
Make it up as you go along
Lauda, laude
Sing like you like to Sing
God loves all simple things
And love is the simplest of all." (MASS; Simple Song - Leonard Bernstein)
We can achieve a similar understanding of God, that He is pure love, and that is as simple as it has to be. There's no real harm in that, but is being in relationship with the living God simple? No, for He knows us thoroughly and is challenging us everyday to become more like Himself. Remember, we're called to take up crosses, not convenience.
See you tomorrow - E.T.
P.S. - I apologize for the lateness of this post. I just didn't have the strength to complete the review last night. Check back later for tonight's review!
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