Are you going to see the Bourne threequel, the “The Bourne Ultimatum” this weekend? It really doesn’t matter if you are, the rest of North America certainly will be attending in throngs. If the reviews are any indication, eggheaded critics and dunderheaded blow-em’ up fans will love it in equal measure.
If there ever was a box-office lock, this is it. Do not bet against this horse. The review are unanimously glowing. Meta-critic’s collating powers have given the film a universal acclaimed 84% score and the more accurate Rotten Tomatoes has given the film a whopping 93% unanimous praise.
It warms our cockles that a real director like Paul Greengrass is not only going to the reap the benefits of this for his future endeavors, but the entire genre of smart-action has been completely turned on its head (see the last Bond movie, “Casino Royale” that copped everything it could from the Bourne series).
Salon said the film was, “A great action movie, exhilarating and neatly crafted, the kind of picture that will still look good 20 or 30 years from now.” Slate wrote, “Fresher, leaner, and faster than any action movie in years.”
The Village Voice all but called it the greatest movie of the year, “Bravura doesn’t begin to describe Greengrass’s skill in mounting these complex sequences…This is, simply put, some of the most accomplished filmmaking being done anywhere for any purpose.”
So whether you see this thing or not, it’s not going to break the box-office bonanza that this is surely going to be. More than 70$ million? Totally possible.
One things for sure, if you saw the harrowing “United 93” and “The Bourne Identity,” you know Paul Greengrass is a master technician and super-accomplished when it comes to creating tension, nauseatingly dizzy sequences and action that knocks your equilibrium right out of sync.
Not only is Bourne amazing action, it even offers, for the willing (and perhaps overly-educated), tidy connections to the work of controversial theoretician Manuel Castells (think globalization, identity issues, and definitions of “citizenship”) in Matt Damon’s everyman character.
“The Bourne Ultimatum” trailer