Plotlines in the "BOURNE Trilogy"

PLOT LINES FOR THE BOURNE TRILOGY

Ever since its release, the critics and many fans have been in rapture over the third "BOURNE" movie. Some have called it the best action movie in recent years. And one particular critic had named all three movies as "the best Hollywood film trilogy ever made". Now, as much as I have enjoyed the "BOURNE" Trilogy, I do not think I would go that far. I do consider the trilogy to be amongst my favorite action films. But do I consider them to be the best? Hmmmm . . . no. In fact, following my second viewing of "ULTIMATUM", I have noticed some plotlines that concern me. In fact, I have a problem regarding a character in "SUPREMACY", as well.

Manheim and Jarda

When I first saw "SUPREMACY", I had assumed that the German-born Treadstone operative in this movie (Marton Csokas) was the same German-born operative who had killed Alexander Conklin in "IDENTITY". Well, I was wrong. Apparently, they are two different men. "IDENTITY" had identified three other Treadstone assasins other than Bourne operating in Europe - the Professor (Clive Owen), Castel (Nicky Naude) and Manheim. Out of all of them, Manheim was the only one who had survived. Yet two years later in "SUPREMACY", Bourne meets Jarda, who claimed that they were the only two Treadstone operatives left. What in the hell happened to Manheim? He survived the events of "IDENTITY", yet he was dead two years later? How did he died? And how did Jarda pop up into this mix?

I also have another question regarding Jarda. How did Bourne find out about him? Hell, how did Bourne know where to find him? When did he have the opportunity to get his hands on the files of Treadstone's European operatives? He certainly was not able to do so in "IDENTITY"'s finale. Nicky was already in the process of destroying the files when Bourne and Conklin had their showdown. Bourne certainly had no opportunity to do so in "SUPREMACY". So, how did he find out about Jarda?

Nicky's Comments About Her Past With Bourne

In "ULTIMATUM", CIA Logistics Coordinator Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) had hinted of some past relationship between her and Bourne that had left her shaken. A relationship that Bourne has no memory of. All I can say is . . . WTF? Since when? I am aware that both Bourne and Nicky were stationed in Paris before the attempted Wombosi hit that left him with amnesia. But recalling Nicky's reaction to Bourne near the end of the film, I never got the impression that they had enjoyed past intimacy with each other. At least not from Nicky. Her reaction to Bourne near the end of "IDENTITY" seemed to be the same as her reaction to the Professor after meeting him . . . namely trepidation. Nor did Nicky bring up any past intimacy between her and Bourne in "SUPREMACY". Aside from her trepidation in "IDENTITY", Nicky had expressed sheer terror when Bourne had kidnapped her in the second film in order to learn more about Treadstone and Pamela Landy (Joan Allen). I get the feeling that screenwriters Tony Gilroy and Scott Z. Burns had added this little tidbit to set the stage for a possible romance between Bourne and Nicky in future films. If this is true, I think it is a cheap shot.


CIA Directors - Martin Marshall and Ezra Cramer

Confusion really seemed to reign over the roles of the two CIA Directors featured in the films - Martin Marshall (Tomas Arana) and Ezra Cramer (Scott Glenn). Martin Marshall's name had briefly came up as the CIA's Director. We got to see him in the flesh in "SUPREMACY". Yet, in "ULTIMATUM", which is mainly set six weeks later after "SUPREMACY", the CIA has a new director - Ezra Cramer. What in the hell happened to Marshall during those six weeks? Someone had claimed that perhaps he had encountered trouble for what happened in Berlin at the beginning of the second film. Frankly, this makes no sense to me. The Berlin operation was big enough to get Pamela Landy in trouble, but certainly not Marshall.

And in "ULTIMATUM", it was claimed that Ezra Cramer had given Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) permission to use the Blackbriar program as a replacement for Treadstone. All I can say is . . . huh? At the end of "IDENTITY", it was Ward Abbott (Brian Cox) who had introduced the Blackbriar program to the CIA. Yes, I am aware that Blackbriar was originally sold by Abbott as a communications program between agencies and later became an assasination program. But when did this happen? During the six weeks between "SUPREMACY" and "ULTIMATUM"? Did Cramer give his authority to the Blackbriar program during this six-week period? Judging from the files in Vosen's safe, I rather doubt it.

I had learned that production on "ULTIMATUM" had began before the script's completion. Judging from some of the plot holes and the movie's cheesy ending that little tidbit seemed pretty obvious to me. And as much as I like the "BOURNE" movies, I find it hard to believe that they are the best action thrillers in the past decade or so. And I especially find it hard to accept that "ULTIMATUM" is the best action film this year or the best "BOURNE" movie. I can think of others that are better.