Film review: The Bourne Ultimatum

The Bourne Ultimatum @ IMDB

The review begins, as ever, with a tale.

My good friend Ryan called and asked if we'd like to go catch the new Bourne film. I said, hey, I love Jason Bourne films. He killed a guy with a magazine and a toaster. What's not to love about that?

So he said it's on at 6, he checked teletext, I said cool, it's a date. So he picked me up from my work place, we drove down to the cinema, looked at some Transformers*, strolled across to Burger King, grabbed a burger and chewed the fat both figuratively and literally.

Then I get a phone call. My other good friend, Meat, is joining us and since it's nearly 6 he's already at the cinema.

And there's no 6 o'clock showing of Bourne. The conversation pretty much went like this:

"Really?"

"Yeah, there's nothing on the screens for six. Eight thirty, yeah. Six no."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"It's nearly six so it might have dropped off the screens."

"I asked. No six."

"What's going on?" Ryan pipes up.

"There's no showing at six, idiot."

"Are you sure?"

Etc etc. So we walk up to the cinema and, waddyaknow, there is no showing at six. Ryan swears that there was, it said so on teletext but the evidence is against him. So we go back to his house, check teletext and do you know what?

It did say there was a showing at six. Teletext lied!

But this is a film review.

My first piece of advice: Do not sit in the front row if you suffer from motion sickness. The film is in a great documentary-style which is shorthand for the camera shakes all over the place. Now, I don't suffer from motion sickness and within half an hour I thought I was going to puke in Ryan's lap.

Now that the safety message is over with, on with the review.

Bourne is still on the run and looking for information about his past. That's pretty much it. Yes, there is a lot of CIA shenanigans going on but that's the thrust of the story.

Basically, everything that was great about the previous films is here and still great . Matt Damon's performance: great. Supporting cast: great. Action: superb.

It's all great. The main strength of the Bourne films is the tension that gets cranked up straight from the off. There is a great scene in a train station that is unbearable. And when the action kicks in, it's a great release to see this visceral, in your face, brutal action.

Highly recommended.

Bourne gets a stick, a really brutal stick that Bourne could use to pummel you senseless in, like, 2 seconds before you could even see him.



*Ryan's eye was caught by a Commerative Edition of Soundwave which he was going to buy. Until he saw it was £25 which was too rich for his blood. He wouldn't admit it, but he shed a tear over that.