Ultimatum

So,Ultimatum was superb.

It's amazing how they've carved out Bourne to be such a mature,focused and admirable character without following conventional lines-the agents usually featured on the silver screen are made up to be shameless womanizers,ever equipped with all sorts of complex gadgets and weapons,and are more concerned in impressing with the audience that the story itself is a sham,the characters are often cold and belong to a different universe.Two examples-the Bond and Ocean's (11,12,13) franchise-you can literally see every scene's executed in a way to make them look gorgeous,enviable,unbeatable,all glimmering and snickering behind their dramatic bravado and slicker-than-thou persona's.

Which is where Bourne comes in to change that.I don't think I need to elaborate any further on this.One more thing I really like about Ultimatum (and it's predecessor,Supremacy),is the casting of Joan Allen-usually CIA agents or high-ranking officials of that sort are depicted somewhat flatly and unimaginatively-ones that do try to break the norm often come across as over-the-top,appearing a bit too comically evil or so foolishly theatrical-but Joan Allen hits in spot on.It's perfect casting,and aside from the impeccable choice of Matt Damon (who brings a particular quality of intimidation and humanity that best fits the title character),they made the right pick by choosing Joan Allen and also Julia Stiles-sure they weren't groundbreaking in any way,but they complimented the film well despite merely playing supporting roles (sure besides Bourne,it's these two and the CIA Deputy character the film pays attention to-but the entire story's pretty much devoted to Bourne alone,everything else is secondary).

My only complaint would be the story-it sums up as a series of some very intense and fast-paced action scenes,along with some other stuff,it moves swiftly,doesn't sway to unecessary subplots (there were many points they could've,but smartly decided against it-i.e: Nicky's short statement hinting to the past Bourne and her share is more suggestive than definite,and if this were to bloom into a full romantic story it would've damaged the main story's build-up and become distracting,and it could've possibly undermined Bourne's previous relationship with his now-dead girlfriend and made his character seem fickle and sleezy-so,I thought this particular bit was managed effectively)-but in the entire course of the film,nothing truly substantial crops up and we're left to deal with this tiny story about Bourne,once again,trying to solve another question about his past and identity-the stakes are high,a single slip could cost him his life,yaddi yaddi ya-once it all wraps up at the end,you might see that what lies at the core is nothing more than a typical story that very obviously lacks a certain depth-sure some might argue that because it's the 3rd installment,the relatively trim story and the absence of detailed parts are perfectly understandable-and I think,sure the Bourne trilogy,in it's entirety,stands firm-but Ultimatum,alone,is simply another add-on to the franchise and nothing officially great on it's own.

A nice break from the big popcorn flicks we've had-Ultimatum paves way for the more serious films coming our way as the year reaches an end-so,concluding this:Ultimatum has plenty of action scenes that are above par,Greengrass' doesn't disappoint as a director and overall a terrific film.