Quick, fast, versatile; a movie that opens at a sprinting pace and never lets up. It picks up in Moscow the night of the incredible tunnel car chase which ended Supremacy. Ultimatum is a continuation, as if Supremacy never ended. I watched Supremacy the night before I saw this, and it felt as if I had never even left theBourne world. We are dropped right in the middle of Bourne’s dark reality right from the first shot, and the film grabs you immediately with its thick atmosphere and stirring air of danger and intrigue. But be warned: it doesn’t let its death grip over you go until the credits - and even then, the movie doesn’t leave you - you want to see it again, right then and there.
Bourne sees "Madrid" on a computer as a lead. There is a shot of him walking away from the computer and it cuts – the very next shot we're flung right into Madrid. Ultimatum cuts out any unnecessary slack and ‘plot development’. We don't need to know how Bourne got this or that passport or this or that lock pick. We don’t even have to see him at the airport, or even taking a taxi to the airport. The film doesn't concern itself with anything that would slow the break neck pace. The few silent, calm moments that there are essential and powerful, and even though they don’t involve Bourne jumping through windows, they are still intense in other ways. These moments serve to give perspective to the characters and the situations, to develop a quiet, emotional moment, and to develop in the viewer a questioning of the morals of the characters.
Sure, Bourne is on the run and just wants to be left alone, but does that justify the people he has killed? Sure, Noah Vosen (played with brilliance by Bourne newcomer David Strathairn, is just doing his job, but does that make his actions right? Who are all these characters to choose who lives and who dies? It’s an interesting question the film explores. There is also some very emotionally intense scenes between Bourne and Nicky Parsons (who has been in all three Bourne films and is played by Julia Stiles, who seems to only get better with each Bourne film), and they serve to give a silent but powerful humanity and emotional charge to the film. Without spoiling them, I will only say that any other film would have had you rolling your eyes, but the direction the brilliant director Greengrass takes this film in, there’s no room for clichés and the requisite romance sequence. Greengrass is good enough that he doesn’t need them to make you feel emotionally attached and sympathetic to the characters.
In conclusion to that, Greengrass constructs some truly wonder and tender moments in the film, which hearkens back memories of the sequence in Supremacy where Bourne apologises to a girl whose parents he killed years ago. These are quiet, affectionate moments which most films strive for and few succeed in, but they are a stark contrast to the rest of the film which is happens to be a screaming, rampaging monster on crack with rabies and the Rage virus. Greengrass ramps the action sequences to a whole new level. He’s kept the shaky cam, which many did not like in Supremacy, but is frankly essential to the energy of both film. I must say that I heard no one complain about it in Ultimatum, though.
Anyways, Ultimatum is one foot chase, motorcycle chase, ‘jump through windows into people’s dining rooms chase after another’. It features what I think is the best hand to hand fight sequence in the whole series yet. It’s got a thrilling sequence in which Bourne directs a journalist to escape from his assassins. It’s got foot chases galore, ones which will be benchmarks for future films. And of course, the car chases. Every Bourne movie has one, and if you thought the one in Supremacy was good – it’s one of my favourites of all time – then you’ll love this one too. I do think it was perhaps too short, but you have to take into consideration the foot chase that leads up to it as well. And the fact that he drives a car off the roof of a building. I should also mention that the final part of the film takes place in New York, and –without spoiling it- I’ll just say there is a brilliant integration with The Bourne Supremacy which made everyone in the theater whisper amongst themselves. All in all, the incredible kinetic energy the film has was enough that I barely even touched the drink I paid $5 for. The popcorn was still almost full. I was simply too busy been mercilessly punched in the face by Ultimatum.
But the true success of the film is that Bourne is a vulnerable protagonist in an unfriendly world. There is no laser wristwatches, no fancy weapons, and there is no Austin Martins. There is only $5 worth of black market junk, a table fan, a stolen police car, and his ingenuity. We come to identify with the character of Bourne and eventually we grow more sympathetic and attached to him with each Bourne film. It doesn’t mean he is a good guy, which is something Ultimatum did a great job of exploring. He is an assassin who has murdered in cold blood. But we know that he’s trying to make things right, and for that we are on his side, as we can identify with that. We are not spies, but we have all done things bad things which we only want to make right. And since he lives in the real world and not the Bond world (sorry Bond, this review is really knocking your series), we feel like he really is vulnerable, which in turn makes every single action sequence all the more intense.
All in all, Ultimatum is the best film of the year so far. It has a brilliant balance between raw emotion - a genuine care for the characters - and the sheer velocity, hyper kinetic energy and pace of the film. Ultimatum is fast and in your face with the almost constant flow of chases and action sequences, but it is smart enough to know how to keep things in perspective and keep you emotionally invested in the characters of the story. It’s the ultimate action film for people who are tired of the genre rehashes, the cheap thrills, the complete lack of honest emotion – all the junk that is constantly thrown at us. It’s a film of raw, unchecked force and exhilaration while at the same time having a potent emotional core which can sometimes be described only as tender. It wasn’t quiet perfect - a specific question of character motivation was my biggest problem, and there is a spattering of exposition - but there was certainly nothing that ruins any part of the experience what so ever. Quiet frankly, you’re likely to be too involved in the story, the endless action sequences, and the pure energy of Ultimatum to realize if the Four Horse Men of the Apocalypse themselves came charging into the theater.
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