The Bourne Ultimatum matched and perhaps exceeded expectations. A solid bookend to the original trilogy, though the story has little resemblance to the original books. That was inevitable considering the changes to the story in the first two movies (I don’t believe Marie dies, for example, and she’s French Canadian in the books, not German). The action is intense but tighter than the first two movies, including a great sequence set in Tangiers.

The film was surprisingly political, though it didn’t hit you over the head with it. The small CIA counter-terrorism team that forms Bourne’s primary opponents in this episode have unlimited powers, including the authority to capture or kill anyone, including U.S. citizens. The abuse of that authority to protect some senior government officials forms a core part of the story. Numerous dossiers of Blackbriar targets (the covert op Bourne is trying to unravel) contain the clearly visible stamp “U.S. Citizen.” I’m also a political nerd with a particular attention to surveillance and civil liberties issues, so maybe it just stood out to me.

Short version, don’t miss it, especially if you liked the first two. Whether it’s worth seeing in the theater or not depends on how much you liked the first two. I really liked the last two and had to see this one on the big screen.

Update: forgot to mention that the Moby song Extreme Ways (iTunes link) has stood up well across all the movies. Does anyone know if the opening to that song is sampled from another movie soundtack? I have this vague recollection of those violins in a older movie from the 60s or 70s, but can’t place it.

Also, I feel like I should suggest the books if you like this sort of storyline (spy/intelligence/intrigue). The The Bourne Identity remains one of my favorite books, and it and The Icarus Agenda are among my favorite Robert Ludlum books. Both worth a read and a quick library visit.