The Bourne Ultimatum (PG-13) Grade: B+

The "Bourne" movie franchise, however self-knowingly, has always operated on a conceit. The expectation that the true identity of Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), provides enough suspense for a trilogy running across many years of Hollywood time-space is too improbable to take seriously. But the "Bourne" films have never sought absolute fidelity to their literary counterparts -- Robert Ludlum's novels.\nThe third installment of the "Bourne" films, "The Bourne Ultimatum," picks up where "The Bourne Supremacy" left off; and thankfully Damon's boyish mug has only acquired a few character-building furrows. But what time has left untouched on the surface, has transformed Damon into a protagonist worthy of a protracted movie trilogy, with the possibility of more (there are two full-length novels left of the "Bourne" chronicles). After refining the character for a good part of his movie career, Damon is now able to portray the amnesiac CIA assassin through pure motion, as if brawn was evidence of deeper psychology.\nDirector Paul Greengrass, who also directed the more clumsy "Supremacy," wisely trims the "Ultimatum" story line down to its essence -- a linear, frenetic chase through major European cityscapes with the perfunctory dip into Mediterranean exoticism. Though we sometimes yearn for the complications that Bourne's girlfriend, played by Franka Potente, brought to the narrative in the first two movies, any attempt at romantic intrigue would have cramped Greengrass' style. Truth be told, we don't go to a Bond movie wondering if 007 will get the girl.\nThe director's gift at timing film action, so much so that real time seems less believable, is put into great use in "Ultimatum." You leave the theater knowing clearly the demarcations between celluloid and reality, which makes "The Bourne Ultimatum" one of the most forthcoming, purposeful action films in recent memory.