I was a little late to the whole Bourne trilogy. I Netflixed the first two around the time that this one was in theaters, but didn’t have enough interest to actually see this one until it hit DVD. At home for Christmas, my boyfriend and I watched this with some family and it was overall enjoyed.

As stand alone films, I like these movies more than I do as a trilogy. I loved the first one, mainly because it had a better director than the other two and I feel Liman’s direction really captured action well. Now the series has Paul “Shaky/NauseaCam” Greengrass at the helm and it is not for the better, in my opinion. I really felt there was a noticeable decline in quality from the first to the second film. Regardless, this third film has some major story and continuity problems. For instance, the second film ends with Jason Bourne going to New York. All of the marketing for the third film shows Jason Bourne “coming home” to New York. Yet, he doesn’t make it to New York until the hour mark of the third film. Where does that first hour fall into the timeline of the second film? Got me. But there’s exciting action sequences and fight scenes, and Julia Stiles shows up again (boy, her character changes dramatically from film to film, huh?) as well as Joan Allen and who doesn’t love new additions to the franchise David Strathairn and Albert Finney? I know I do. So as a stand alone film it’s got great action, exciting plot hooks, and an awesome cast. It’s just when you try to piece the whole thing together that it starts to fall apart.

Nominations:

Best Editing
I’m a little surprised by this nomination, to be honest. All of the action scenes were very well cut, however I felt the film ran a little long, and with all it’s continuity problems I had a hard time paying attention to the editing. However, the Academy is considering it as a stand alone piece, as it should, and I was trying to see the series as a whole. I don’t think this film will take this award home as it’s up against four stellar films, but I’m impressed with the nomination.

Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing
This is a great entry here, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it take one home, however I think Transformers stands a better chance of taking both these awards home. The sound in that film blew me away, as it’s meant to, and I don’t believe that Bourne quite stacks up.