The Bourne Ultimatum C+
Starring Matt Damon, Joan Allen, and David Strathairn
Directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy)
Rated PG-13 for violence and intense sequences of action
Appropriate for ages 15+
The Story: In this third and final chapter of the Bourne chronicles, Jason Bourne (Damon) is still trying to sort out who he really is and who made him into what he has become. The U.S. government, however, has a problem with him being alive and does everything in their power to kill him.
The Good: If what you need is a two-hour-long chase film, this will cure your woes. This is a very exciting film with tons of great chase and fight sequences. Also, the cast of actors is first rate and they all turn in very good performances.
The Bad: The biggest problem with this pic is the same problem with the second film: the way it is shot. Director Paul Greengrass puts the camera right into the middle of the action where we can’t focus on anything, and then shakes the camera around in order to make it worse. I left the theater nauseated and with a headache. Either he has never heard of a steadicam, or he thinks that audiences are ADD enough to appreciate this style of film making.
Another major problem is that the plot is way too similar to the first two films. Jason has amnesia, he wants to know more about his old self, he sorta remembers a government official that might clear things up, and then he goes after them. Meanwhile, the government official wants him dead. While the story works, it’s just a retread of what came before it, told slightly different and in more exotic locales in order to freshen things up.
The Summary: If theaters had sold Dramamine at the concession stand, this might have been a better experience for me.
, a writer of books about haunted hotels that doesn’t believe in ghosts. Upon receiving a postcard warning him about room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel in New York City, where several dozen people mysteriously died, he decides to investigate for himself. Although adamantly discouraged by the hotel manager (Samuel L. Jackson), Enslin, positive that nothing can happen to him besides a good night’s sleep, decides that he knows best and locks himself in for the night. This turns out to be a bad decision.<BR><BR>1408 starts out really strong, providing some really good scary moments throughout the first half of the film. It’s not that the film isn’t good past the half-way point, but it’s certainly not as terrifying. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since the second half of the film is where the majority of the character development takes place, and without it, it would have probably been just another stupid slasher flick. Instead, what we get here is a smart, thrilling, and suspenseful film that has you guessing till the end. <BR><BR>This is not the best story King wrote, and with that being said, the very short story it is based on is different from the story of the movie. But still, I got the feeling that they wanted to create here another <EM>Shining</EM>, and it just doesn’t live up to the Kubrick classic. On it’s own, it’s a much better-than-average horror flick that doesn’t rely on hardcore torture and gore to thrill it’s audience. </FONT></FONT></p>
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Ocean’s Thirteen