The Bored Ultimatum

Am I the only person in the United Kingdom that didn’t like this (apparently not)? ‘Summer popcorn movie’ seems to be a critical compliment these days, but to me all it means is ‘big, dumb action flick’ (and I’m not all that keen on popcorn anyway).

Here are some choice reviews:

Greengrass uncorks some truly jaw-dropping action sequences and chases that had me on the edge of my seat. Relentlessly enjoyable. The Bourne franchise delivers a lot more entertainment bangs for your buck than any other action picture. - THE GUARDIAN

One of the year's finest pieces of moviemaking - THE OBSERVER

The action-thriller success story of the 21st century - THE INDEPENDENT

Unmitigated flapdoodle from the get-go - CHIP SMITH

The major problem I had with it is that I just didn’t feel emotionally engaged with it on any identifiable level. Some CIA bigwigs attempt to silence one of their own, who is by all accounts, a trained and dispassionate killing machine. Huh - let them kill each other – see if I care.

Admittedly, the opening sequence in which Bourne guides a Guardian journalist through Waterloo Station whilst being surveyed by a plethora of CCTV cameras is original and genuinely exciting, partially because someone other than a bunch of CIA operatives is involved. However, from that point on, we get the usual fist fights, incomprehensible car chases, and perfunctory nods to a coherent narrative. Not that it particularly matters of course, this being a ‘summer popcorn movie’.

It also transpires that Bourne has suddenly become indestructible, yet another pseudo-Bond who simply will not die. He emerges with hardly a scratch when he reverses a car off the top of a building, at which point a minor character states, ‘He’s just driven off a building’, just in case Paul Greengrass’ ‘kinetic’ (© every single British broadsheet) directing leaves you scratching your head asking, ‘What the arse just happened there?’

Honestly – what a load of flapdoodle.