The Bourne Ultimatum

I enjoyed The Bourne Ultimatum very much when I went to see it this week. It's a real roller-coaster - an action movie that really is all-action. It barely stops for a minute to draw breath. But it's really well-made; directed by Paul Greengrass, who was responsible for the previous Bourne film, The Bourne Supremacy. Greengrass is fast becoming the director of the moment, and it's not hard to see why. Somehow his films, whatever their subject (sober, as with United 93, or all-action) have dramatic weight, an essential seriousness of purpose which marks them out as exceptional. And, of course, there was Matt Damon. I've always really liked him, even as far back as the Good Will Hunting Days, but it was The Talented Mr Ripley that really drew attention to the fact that here was an exceptional actor. He's not the greatest-looking leading man; with his snub nose and blank expression, but that actually works in his favour, as his looks aren't conventional in the Brad Pitt mode. BP really has to work hard to achieve substance and sometimes manages it, but his looks are always working against him. Damon essential anonymity is a blank canvas which can reveal greater depths. I thought he was superb in Ripley, in fact the whole film was grossly underrated. He seems to be getting better and better with age, now he's losing all that puppy fat. His CV since Ripley is patchy, but there are some fine performances lurking there. He was superb, I thought, in The Departed, and I have yet to see The Good Shepherd, but have high hopes for that. He's particularly good at playing characters with a secret - it's that blank canvas again, and the character in The Departed, that of the upright cop who is secretly a member of the underworld, was perfect for him.
He's starring in the upcoming Imperial Life in the Emerald City, another Greengrass project, for which I have very high hopes. I was planning to read the book anyway soon, and have had it recommended to me - it's about life in Iraq's Green Zone, but I know little else about it. I shall look forward to it with great anticipation anyway.
There's not much else to say about The Bourne Ultimatum, excepet that I think the Bourne films have been largely responsible for the reinvention of James Bond in Casino Royale. There's little in the way of special effects and gizmos, just action. And the Bourne films have the added bonus of having a mysterious central character. The ending is suitably open, yet highly satisfying at the same time. Great stuff!