If The Bourne Supremacy was all set-up, Ultimatum is all delivery. This film, tightly directed again by Paul Greengrass, fires on all cylinders. It picks up moments after its predecessor, with Jason Bourne once again on the run from Treadstone agents in his search to reclaim his memory. In this film, we find out that Treadstone has been given an upgrade and is now called Blackbriar. It's also super secret and the CIA will kill anyone who threatens its existence.
Bourne comes out of hiding when a British journalist threatens to go public over his discovery of Blackbriar. The resulting sequence of events through Britain's Waterloo train station may be my favorite sequence in all three films. The delicate game of cat and mouse had me (even after multiple viewings) on the edge of my seat. What I particularly love about this film is that the cat and mouse game doesn't just stop there, it builds throughout the film as Bourne seeks the truth.
We (spoiler alert!!) the truth about Bourne's past and his involvement in the Treadstone project. We see how he transformed from David Webb into superior killing machine, Jason Bourne. Albert Finney shines in his role as the architect of the Treadstone program.
Finney, alone with the other supporting cast, are the highpoint of this film. Joan Allen returns as the ambiguous CIA agent, Pamela Landy. She brilliantly toes the line between helping and hunting Bourne. David Strathairn is excellent as crooked CIA agent (in a long line of Bourne bad guys), hellbent on capturning Bourne.
The final chase throughout New York City, and the rooftop chase scene in Tangier are two series high watermarks. Both are expertly directed and are tightly edited to elicit a premium adrenaline rush from the audience.
I truly enjoyed revisiting this series, and I'm definitely pumped for next week's 4th installment, Jason Bourne (Although I don't love the title.). Thanks for taking this trip down the Bourne rabbit hole with me.
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