The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Director: Paul Greengrass

Starring: Matt Damon, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn

Jason Bourne dodges a ruthless C.I.A. official and his Agents from a new assassination program while searching for the origins of his life as a trained killer.

Wow, wow, wow, what a way to end the Bourne trilogy!! As good as the previous films were, ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ is still more superior to them. This is easily one of the most exciting action movies ever made (‘Die Hard’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ are also strong contenders.)

Matt Damon returns as Jason Bourne, a character sure to immortalize him as one of the greatest action stars. The Bourne films are spy thrillers in the vein of James Bond, but – as mentioned before – they are far more realistic and therefore more believable. There are no fantasy villains here and the threats are real. ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ continues where ‘The Bourne Supremacy’ left off, and Joan Allen returns as Pamela Landy, who now believes in Bourne’s innocence and is trying to help him. With Ward Abbott (Brian Cox) out of the picture, there’s a new bad guy on the block at the CIA who wants to eliminate Bourne at all costs – Noah Vosen (David Strathairn).

Julia Stiles has a much bigger role this time around. She stars as Nicky Parsons, who had a small part in ‘The Bourne Identity’, and is one of the few people at the CIA whom Bourne trusts. In ‘The Bourne Supremacy’ she had a bigger role, and in ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ she is one of the lead characters and on the run with Bourne.

‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ is off to a thrilling, action-packed start, grabs you and never lets go. Not a single moment goes by that isn’t exciting. The action is relentless and non-stop. The cliched running on rooftops sequence gets a fresh look here, and is incredible. This film elevates fast-paced to new heights. This is the most suspenseful film in the series, and makes for a fantastic conclusion to the trilogy. (yes, I know they made more films in the franchise, but I’m referring to the original trilogy).

The film cleverly circles to connect with the ending of ‘Supremacy’, and then takes the story further from there. The photography is thankfully not as close-up and shaky as ‘Supremacy’. Again, the film has a very effective score complimenting every scene. This is an all-round FANTASTIC production!

‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ earned $441 million on a $110 million budget, making it the highest grossing film in the franchise, and also the highest rated. It also received the most award nominations, winning the most in the series, with 29 wins including 3 Oscars (Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing). It is the only film in the series to have received Oscar nominations. This is officially the best film in the series, and not only my opinion.

Would I watch it again? For sure!