Bovie Movie

In the third film based on author Robert Ludlum’s bestsellers, former CIA agent Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) hits the ground running — and from then on the pace never slackens. The subtle and simple script is dazzling, as Bourne zips through stunning global locations to discover the truth about his past and take revenge on those responsible for his brainwashed plight. Damon has really made the role of the troubled assassin his own, and returning director Paul Greengrass employs the same hand-held camera technique he used in The Bourne Supremacy to add immediacy and up-close-and-personal thrills to the terrific stunts. With flashbacks to both previous episodes, and stars Joan Allen and Julia Stiles returning to marvellous effect, this final instalment is essentially one long chase that never loses its grip or credibility. Nothing is overplayed, from the scary surveillance tracking methods to the high-level corruption, making this a superbly crafted masterclass in intelligent action film-making. 

Tony Scott takes his overblown style of film-making to new levels of superficiality in this frenetic action thriller. Scripted by Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly, it’s inspired by the true story of the late Domino Harvey (played by Keira Knightley), the daughter of actor Laurence Harvey, who swapped her privileged life for the dangers of bounty hunting. Yet despite the astonishing source material, only the barest factual bones are incorporated. Instead, Scott offers a male-oriented fantasy in which Domino and her reprobate colleagues (including Mickey Rourke) get dragged into a deadly case involving the Mafia and the FBI, while being filmed for their own reality TV show. The initial set-up is slick and exciting, with Knightley enjoyably tongue-in-cheek as the sultry bad girl. Unfortunately, the characters and plotline remain frustratingly underdeveloped, overshadowed by Scott’s grating obsession with visual experimentation that makes even his hyperkinetic Man on Fire look sedate.