It is often
said that the concept of mise en scène is a part of
filmmaking in order to bring the viewer to deeper understand the
characters and events of a given picture. For the most part, I
tend to agree with this philosophy: the goal of a team of
film-artists should be to delve inside of the personalities and
themes that their work tackles.
With said
principle in mind, it would be very easy for me to call The
Bourne Ultimatum an insult on the respected conventions of
narrative filmmaking. However, doing so would be a complete
oversight on my behalf. Yes, it’s true: director Paul Greengrass
and cinematographer Oliver Wood use the picture as an excuse to
deliberately show off, implementing a shaky camera and
relentless visual tricks at every chance they get. And, yes,
there’s no real reason for any of this as far as protagonist
Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and his corrupt government opposition
are concerned in terms of the narrative. However, the viewer
must realize that this showiness is the whole point of the
exercise: Greengrass never wishes that the audience view Bourne
as the main character of the film. Essentially, the movie is not
so much about its external plot as it really is about the way in
which it is made: Greengrass and Wood’s wacky culmination of
angles and shots is the cast of characters here. Damon’s
Jason Bourne, with all of his ass-kicking power and command over
the screen, is mostly just along for the wild cinematic ride.
If one is to
accept the central gimmick that The Bourne Ultimatum is
more of a technical experience than it is a narrative
experience—I had no problem doing so—the picture works amazingly
well. Considered from a nuts-and-bolts perspective, this is one
of the best action films of the past five years; I was
overwhelmed by even thinking about the continuity
involved in piecing together all of Wood’s trademark handheld
shots. The pacing throughout is taut and incredible; Greengrass
and editor Christopher Rouse assert themselves as masters of
their respective crafts as they seamlessly move the action from
one location to the next in record-time. Their work allows
The Bourne Ultimatum to be as breathtakingly entertaining as
it is technically marvelous.
Despite the
tremendous degree to which The Bourne Ultimatum’s
technical prowess impressed me and as much as I am willing to
defend the picture for its daring rejection of common narrative
conventions, I still admit to being disappointed by the
shallowness of its human characters. Sure, developing said
characters in order to provide the film greater emotional heft
admittedly would’ve been a futile exercise for Greengrass: it
would’ve slowed down the pacing and made things seem forced.
Still, The Bourne Ultimatum is slightly flawed due to the
fact that it feels like a bit of a cop-out given its abandonment
of the emotional core of its line-up of familiar faces that was
developed in its two predecessors. Perhaps the picture is flawed
for the better of the sum of its parts, but this never excuses
its lack of an ability to jar the viewer on more than just a
purely sensory level.
Even if it may
not be as substantial as it could’ve been, The Bourne
Ultimatum is nevertheless a sweeping mélange of technical
mastery. I suspect that, in future years, it will become
mandatory-viewing in all introductory-level cinematography
courses. In the picture’s virtuoso style, viewers will find
endless amounts of entertainment and heart-stopping adrenaline,
free of any flabby excess that should’ve been edited out on the
cutting-room floor. The Bourne Ultimatum is a tight,
hour-and-fifty-minute alternative to the recent overlong and
bloated antics of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
and Transformers. Without reservation, I’d go as far as
to say that it’s easily the best action film of the summer.
-Danny Baldwin,
Bucket Reviews
Review Published on: 8.8.2007
Screened on:
8.6.2007 at the Edwards San Marcos
18 in San Marcos, CA.
The Bourne Ultimatum is rated PG-13 and
runs 111 minutes.
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