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The young upstart in the screen pantheon of espionage heroes, Jason Bourne has shaken - and dare one say even stirred - the venerable, 45
year old Bond franchise. Many believe that the grittily realistic action of Casino Royale was a direct response to the success of no-frills thrills of
The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy.
The latter, directed by Paul Greengrass who reprises those duties on
The Bourne Ultimatum, raised standards which have been improved upon once more as amnesiac former agent Jason Bourne (Damon) finally returns to the place where his deadly adventure began. And for Damon it is like coming full circle too.
"I signed on for one film at a time," Damon explains, "we always said after the first one that we'd do another if it wasn't just a cynical money grab, if we could actually make a movie that we felt was as good or better than the previous one.
"And going into the third it was the fact that Paul wanted to direct it that was my cue to sign on. He didn’t need to do a third Bourne film because he's about as white hot as you can get by Hollywood standards, just given his work on United 93 and The Bourne Supremacy. So when he said it’d be fun to do it we all went 'okay, we're in'."
Though they may share a set of initials - a sly joke on the part of Bourne author Robert Ludlum perhaps - the differences between the characters of Bourne and Bond are marked.
"I understand the comparison," Damon says, "but they are fundamentally different, not better or worse, just different. The Bond character is an imperialist and a misogynist, he kills people and laughs about it, he drinks Martinis and cracks jokes. That's just so different from the Bourne character who is not with the government, the government is after him.
"He's got this one woman he's in love with, so he's a serial monogamist, she's dead but he does nothing but think about her. And he doesn't have the support of all the gadgets. He feels great remorse for the things he's done. He feels compassion for others and guilt when he does things that hurt people. And he’s evolving as a human being."
Where Casino Royale had a bruising, free running styled pursuit at the start of the adventure the pell-mell pace of The Bourne Ultimatum is reflected in a prolonged chase of its own. At times it's arguable who is the hunter and who the prey through a dizzying array of locations.
From a crowded Waterloo Station concourse, to the Medina in Tangier to the car packed streets of New York, the international nature of the film is undeniable. And shooting in each of these locations provided, Damon confirms, their own set of challenges.
"I think it all helps the urgency and the paranoia of the performances because we're right out there in the middle of everything. And a lot of that comes out of really being in those locations. I remember the rooftop in Tangier, there's a sequence where I grab these towels to help me get over a wall that has broken glass on it.
"We got up there and the glass was there already, so we had to work around that. Someone suggested we put up a clothes line and I grab a towel from one roof and then another a couple of rooftops along grab another, to protect my hands. There are thousands of things like this that we come up with on the day," Damon adds, with a smile, "we just leave the good ones in the movie."
There are signs that the actor is beginning to slow down the hectic pace of his career, to reassess his priorities in life. After all the 36 year old celebrates his second wedding anniversary this December to Luciana Barroso, and has noticed changes in the five years he has been associated with his seemingly indestructible screen alter ego.
"It was different on this movie than on the other two," he says. "I used to not have a life at all. I would go and work all day, then I'd go home and go to the gym and then I'd go to sleep. I'd do that every day until the movie was over. Now I have a step-daughter, I have a daughter and a life at home, so I didn't go to the gym after work."
The widely praised success of this action trilogy, as well as well regarded films such as Syriana, The Departed and The Good Shepherd, suggests that Damon's muscle is still most effectively felt in the box office with Forbes magazine estimating that Damon is currently Hollywood's most bankable star.
This, at least, should ensure him bragging rights with Ocean's Eleven co-stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt, who have ribbed him in the past after they were each awarded the title of World's Sexiest Man.
"I attached the Forbes article on an e-mail that went out to George, and wrote: 'suck it sexy boy!'," Damon chuckles. "He wrote back: 'that's great. I had it read to me by one of my servants at my villa by Lake Como'."
Letting his wise cracking pal take the credit for a neat put down, it is Matt Damon who - for now at least - is having the last laugh.
ANWAR BRETT
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