Damon strong in Bourne III

In theaters

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, directed by Paul Greengrass, written by Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi, 111 minutes, rated PG-13.

In “The Bourne Ultimatum,” Paul Greengrass follows his excellent, Academy Award-nominated “United 93” with one of the summer’s best, smartest action movies.

The film proves a satisfying conclusion to a trilogy that began in 2002 with “The Bourne Identity” and carried forward in 2004 with the release of “The Bourne Supremacy.” Each was a travelogue of espionage that took audiences around the globe as the amnesiac CIA assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) sought his true identity while efficiently taking down thugs and government agents along the way.

“Ultimatum” follows suit, but since this is the final film in the series, more answers are at hand, with Damon again succeeding at being a terrific – and unlikely – action hero.

He is everything you don’t expect from the genre, which is one reason the “Bourne” franchise is so appealing. With his slight build and boyish face, Damon isn’t here to flex his pecs and bark out clever sound bites designed to become catchphrases. Instead, he’s here to think and to outthink, to fight and to run, and naturally to survive.

There’s plenty of that to do here. In this movie, the actor is put through hell – the sort of hell no mere mortal could survive, such as falling off buildings and surviving horrific car crashes – and yet throughout, Damon remains mechanically cool and expressionless, which is a shift from the previous movies, in which his paranoia was allowed, at the very least, to roam within his eyes.

Not so this time. Even though he has CIA agents Pamela Lundy (Joan Allen) and her boss, Noah Vosen (David Strathairn), after him, he’s more in control than ever. As he comes closer to piecing together his fractured life with the help of fellow agent Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles, the film’s weakest link), his face remains a cold mask of determination, with his character’s sole aim to uncover the full truth behind his lost identity.

To bolster the sense of Bourne’s focus, Greengrass and his screenwriters – Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi – arm him with as little dialogue as possible. It’s a decision that underscores Bourne’s inward existence and which also prevents Bourne from raising the sort of questions that might threaten an audience’s suspension of disbelief. One doesn’t, after all, want him surviving a 70-foot fall off the top of a building and then have him talk about it. Best just to feel the rush and move on.

Beyond Damon, the strength of the franchise always has been in its exotic locales and in how the series uses them to full effect. No amount of computer animation or stunt work achieved on a back lot can ever trump, in this case, the thrill of watching a tense car chase through the streets of Manhattan, or a foot chase along the rooftops of Tangier.

The realness of these scenes have a dual effect – they suggest moviemaking that isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty, and they also make the films as hard-nosed as the Robert Ludlum novels on which they’re based. Helping to that end are Oliver Wood’s raw cinematography, Christopher Rouse’s crazed yet coherent editing, and a pummeling score by John Powell that doesn’t stop until Bourne stops himself.

Grade: B+

On DVD

DISTURBIA, directed by D.J. Caruso, written by Christopher Landon and Carl Ellsworth, 104 minutes, rated PG-13.

“Disturbia” asks what a teenage boy is to do when he’s been placed under house arrest for assaulting a teacher. The answer? Take a cue from Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal thriller “Rear Window” and start spying on the neighbors.

If nothing else, he’ll at least get an education in psychology.

The film takes a familiar premise and makes it its own. The result is a surprisingly tense movie for the high-tech generation that doesn’t sell out its story in favor of cheap thrills.

There are genuine jolts here, with director D.J. Caruso especially adroit at building suspense without losing his sense of humor. Late in the game, logic becomes strained and any prior subtleness is lost, but the fine acting by the very good cast goes a long way in keeping the film moving at a sharp clip.

The film stars Shia LaBeouf as Kale Brecht, a likable California teen traumatized after surviving the same car accident that killed his father. Now, after an altercation with his Spanish teacher, Kale is spared jail time when his mother (Carrie-Anne Moss) asks the judge to soften the sentence. The judge agrees and Kale is ordered to wear a monitoring device on his ankle, which, for the next three months, will keep him rooted to within 100 feet of his suburban home.

It’s a good deal, but when Kale and his friends (Sarah Roemer, Aaron Yoo) are drawn to the windows that overlook the community beyond, what they find is a world teeming with unexpected interest. For instance, there’s Kale’s neighbor Mr. Turner (David Morse), who drives a vintage Mustang, enjoys gardening to the point of obsession, and who – upon closer examination – might just be a serial killer.

It’s this closer examination that gives the film its impressive drive, particularly when Mr. Turner is seen dragging large, mysteriously cumbersome bags into his garage. With these three gradually convinced that Turner is indeed responsible for the murders of several women, the game is on, with Turner himself, in another broad nod at “Rear Window,” becoming aware of their surveillance, which fuels the suspense, as does his growing relationship with Kale’s mom.

Until its overwrought ending, which bends backward into overkill, much of what ensues is slick and satisfying, a movie geared toward teens that for once doesn’t dumb down its story for them.

Grade: B

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays and Fridays in Lifestyle, weekends in Television as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.