The Bourne Ultimatum

Thanks to page four of G2 in today's Guardian, got to see the third installment of Matt Damon's powerhouse Bourne franchise a couple of days early, and for free.

And I really don't know what to say.

This is probably one of the most hardcore "cool" movies I've ever seen. Jason Bourne is the smartest, fastest, strongest most awesome character ever to grace the silver screen. Despite the fact that we've not followed any of Ludlum's books apart from the premise of the first movie, there's a degree of depth and literary self-awareness present here that most series of novels don't manage. The level to which continuity is served is simply astounding.

The movie picks up, strangely, just before the ending of the second film, with Bourne making his escape from the Russian police in Moscow, having just apologised to the daughter of Vladmir Nesky, the politician who was his first assignment. We hop about a bit, and meet a Guardian reporter (hence the tie-in promotion, I assume) who's been following the Bourne story. His facts are accurate enough for Bourne to request a meeting, to try and find out who the source is, since he presumably knows more about his past. So Bourne's going back to the beginning.

I really cannot say much about this movie at all, because it would just spoil the surprises (and there are many, and they are each more awesome than the previous one). You absolutely have to see it. The Bourne Ultimatum has jumped into my favourite movies of all time, along with the first two; the whole trilogy is fantastic.