The Bourne Ultimatum

The one redeeming aspect of this film was the fact that when Jason Bourne’s own life began to be in jeopardy, he started questioning why he was a target, what he had done to make that happen, who he was really, and where that knowledge would take him. There is tremendous violence in this movie, and it is NOT a movie for anyone under 17. Many Christians should heed the fact that the theme of this movie is mainly “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The people who were the leaders in this movie suffered from a corruption of their morals and principles, and only one had the presence of mind to question whether what was being done might be wrong. I pray to God that there will always be at least one person in even the most evil enterprise who will question the “truth” behind what is being done.

I did enjoy this movie, because I got into the action, mystery and intrique, but in my spirit I grieved the murder, mayhem and the decision of so many to flout all the laws and rules that govern us, and that there was only a vague interest in finding some level of truth in all this, but no knowledge of God is ever sought. I gave this movie a 4½ for script, lighting, directing, acting, effects and stunts. From any Christian viewpoint this film gets a definitive 1, for at least questioning the ethics of what was being done.

The style of the movie is exactly in pace with the previous two (i.e., No CGI effects, modernized pop-culture lingo or references, etc.). Even the car chase scenes were actual and were not computer rendered. A lot of fast-paced hand-to-hand action with no blood shed. No senseless violence or killings (though, some people did die in the film, it wasn’t often). There were some swear words scattered throughout the film (including the shock phrase, “Jesus Christ”), but it was not frequent at all. No nudity or sexual references at all, which impressed me greatly.

The thing I like most about the Bourne series is Bourne himself. He’s basically a man who sees the horrible things he’s done, realizes that this was wrong and walked away from it. I’m continuously impressed at how many times you’ll see him raise a gun towards a person (only as a defense for himself), and eventually lower it because he truly doesn’t want to kill anymore, or he realizes that the other guy can no longer pose a threat (as opposed to other movies where the character would just shoot). He showed responsibility in taking actions and pointed out how unnecessary it is to be violent all of the time.

From a Christian standpoint, although Bourne did walk away from being an assassin, it doesn’t cover his past mistakes. He would need Jesus; not only to have his past sins forgiven, but to also provide a standard of living that would ensure him a better life. From what I could tell, the movie did not have anything strongly morally degrading. Because of some of the verbiage I mentioned above and the serious style of the movie, I don’t advise this film for younger viewers.

It is also interesting how the CIA looked at Bourne’s actions as Bourne searched for his identity (actions all legitimately committed), and still the CIA misunderstood him. Without a doubt, some officials had preconcieved ideas about what Bourne would do. But it also poses an interesting dilemma: Your perspective, your interpretations—no matter how hard you try to view things differently—may not be the true story. Bourne was a dangerous assassin, but in his search for solace, he was a torn man trying to find the truth and do the right. Fortunately for him, Pamela Landy had the bravery to stand firm in her instinct that Jason Bourne was not the bad person her superiors suspected.

As a Christian, I enjoy movies in which characters who have done wrong now search for repentance, reasons why they did wrong. It is disheartening to see movie personalities who look outside of their bad habits, but end up returning to them or excusing them. Jason Bourne, however, did not do this. The climax scene close to the end, the scene in which Bourne meets the program director who forced him to become Jason Bourne, is a powerful few minutes. Jason meets the man who in worldly thinking, he has every right to kill. Even for a Christian, to be in Bourne’s situation and meet someone like this, it would be very hard to not pull the trigger. All your training and ability is telling you it would be easy, that this man deserves to die for all the evil he has incited people to commit (remember, Bourne was only the first of many assassins). Even for the sakes of others who suffer what you do, surely it would be good to kill this man. Bourne, as many of us would have done, comes right to the brink of shooting his nemesis.

…From a production perspective, this movie was amazingly well-done. The tension does not let up for a second, and the very first second of the movie sets the pace at a racing speed—literally. I had heard negative reviews of the hand-held camera method. I am a huge fan of the TV show 24, which, like the Bourne series, never lets up on action, thrillers, and tension. 24 utilizes the same camera method, and I think it works fabulously for the Bourne movies (or any movie of this genre) becuase it allows close-up access to the characters, the action, and the events of the movie. It successfully creates tension—especially on a huge theater screen—that places you right there with it. An acquaintance who saw this movie told me he kept shaking himself off to “get out the glass fragments” from the car chase scene. Fabulous work by the directors.

As tight as this movie is in terms of plot, and as quickly as the plot turns, this movie was relatively easy to follow. The only difficulty came in keeping up and paying attention to detail in order to catch the turns—a job I didn’t mind doing at all when it came to a movie this great. Acting was phenominal all around, and I enjoyed that Claire Danes was given a larger role. Her interaction with Bourne was great, and I enjoyed the second-to-last scene in which she smiles in the cafe upon hearing that no body could be found in the river.

A former CIA Directorate of Operations officer (clandestine service employee) was interviewed for the first Bourne movie (for special features) and he commented on how realistic the Bourne Identity was. This movie, in particular Jason Bourne’s interactions with the Guardian reporter Simon, were very well-directed, and seemed very real to life. The scenes in the London terminal in which Bourne moves Simon through and away from the CIA surveillance teams stands as one of my favorites of all time in the Bourne series.

A couple of my favorite lines:
Bourne: “Because if you were in your office, we’d be holding this conversation face to face.”
Bourne: “No, I’m not going to kill you. You don’t deserve the star they’d give you on the wall at Langley.”
Also—as a Missouri citizen watching this movie in a Missouri theater, this movie got a few laughs at one point when the camera panned to show Pamela Landy’s profile on Jason Bourne, and it had Bourne’s birthplace as Nixa, Missouri. Fabulous job all around! The best movie of the summer!

Some have tried to suggest that Bourne has a moral conscience that forbids him from doing harm to anyone. 'He’s had enough of that.' Really? He may feel bad about killing a fellow assassin but he has no qualms about driving a police car into oncoming traffic at 100 miles an hour. There are people in those cars. People with children, and babies in car seats, and grandmothers, and defenseless animals. The film is so worried about Bourne uncovering a plot by the “evil CIA” to kill 7 or 8 innocent “US Citizens” that it forgets to notice that Jason is using a police car like a missile in rush hour traffic, putting hundreds of lives at risk. Not to mention thousands of dollars in increased insurance rates. He wants to fit injustice, he can start there.

This movie has no moral sensibility what so ever. It’s too absurd to even consider the notion. It is simple one more blurry, handy-cam attempt by Hollywood to promote their 'everything-on-the-right-is-wrong', agenda. My guess is that Bourne’s next movie will have him out there combating global climate change. We’ll just call it 'Global Bourne-ing' and be done with it.

However, there is some positive moral content. Bourne only kills when he needs to (except in a flashback). The one person he kills in the regular timeline of the movie was trying to kill him and an ally. Everyone else he confronts, he simply knocks out. He even had a chance to kill someone who was trying to kill him, but he had mercy on him when the man was helpless. We learn later that even though Bourne thinks that he was made to become a part of the Treadstone and Blackbriar projects (and consequently kill all those people), we see that he made his own choice to do so (another tip of the hat to free choice). Even though Bourne is an assassin, he shows he has a conscience and that he feels remorse for all those he killed. The two allies of Bourne also show a quality of great self-sacrifice in helping him.

As far as moviemaking quality is concerned, there isn’t too much to say that I’ve already said. The actors (whether returning or new to the series) all do a good job (with Matt Damon doing the best as usual). The great chess game that we see all through the movie between Bourne and the CIA is very interesting as always. Of course, Bourne is always one move ahead of the opponent. In fact, the movie isn’t so much about all the fighting, but about the big chess game.

Jason Bourne has proven himself to be better than James Bond (and most other action stars), both in terms of fighting skill and in terms of morality. If you either like or don’t mind action films, I think the Bourne Ultimatum and the other Bourne movies are a good choice (even if you don’t like action films, I would suggest the Bourne movies because they are a cut or two above the normal action movie). If the you feel that you can’t get past the few content concerns (exclusively in the language department), then I suggest you don’t go see this or the other two movies.

Everything from acting, to special effects, to stunts was tremendously done. If you enjoyed the other two Bourne movies, or you just have a longing to see a highly intense thriller with the best of action scenes, with little offensive material, I would recommend the Bourne Ultimatum. The Bourne Ultimatum wrapped up the trilogy brilliantly.