I SPY A THRILLER LATEST 'BOURNE' FILM A BREAK FROM BLAND THREEQUELS.

Byline: STORIES BY BOB STRAUSS

>FILM WRITER

The summer of movie threequels is entering the home stretch. So far, it's moviegoers who have been doing most of the stretching -- and yawning -- at the underwhelming likes of "Spider-Man 3," "Shrek the Third," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and "Ocean's 13."

But relief is on the way. Come Friday, "The Bourne Ultimatum," third entry in the movie series about amnesiac spy Jason Bourne, will hit theaters at a fast trot and virtually never slow down until the end.

Once again starring Matt Damon and directed, like previous entry "Bourne Supremacy," by Paul Greengrass, (the 2002 "Bourne Identity" was helmed by Doug Liman), the movie is satisfyingly visceral, artfully slapped together in a gritty, cinema-verite style, and it provides most of the answers Bourne and we viewers have been seeking through the series.

Something clearly must have gone wrong at Hollywood's franchise blandification plant.

People in the know say it was hiring Greengrass, a British TV documentarian who, when not having fun with Bourne action, likes to direct hyper-realistic historical re-creations such as the acclaimed "Bloody Sunday" and last year's "United 93." Known for handheld camerawork, jarring editing and, basically, shooting whatever catches his eye on any given day, Greengrass gets a propulsive, absorbing energy going that few filmmakers can match.

"You couldn't teach that in film school and send people out there to do it," muses Damon. "But it works for Paul. There's something about that chaos and that alchemy, but it should come with a stint. It's not an advisable way to work if you want to live a long life."

"Everybody on set knew what was at stake," adds Julia Stiles, who plays the films' Nicky Parsons, one of the few CIA operatives who isn't out to kill Bourne on sight. "Paul just focused on what he wanted to express and what he wanted his movie to look like. He didn't try to pander to what he thought other people would expect."

Greengrass plays down his shoot-from-the-hip reputation. But he does reveal that there's a method behind the exciting madness.

"I think people have a misapprehension that you just pull a camera out, wave it around and there it is. I don't think that works," the Englishman explains. "And of course, it can easily become mannered, an effect imposed on an image that's not integral to the storytelling.

"What I'm seeking to do is keep in play two contradictory forces that tend to pull apart," Greengrass adds. "Those forces would be structure, on the one hand -- storytelling, planning, knowing what I want the scene to tell and show -- and freedom -- improvisation, happenstance, the conditions that day ... . And what I try to do with all of my films is put them where those two forces meet."

The storytelling factor is the other major reason why "Bourne Ultimatum" keeps us awake and engaged. All three films have been loosely adapted from Robert Ludlum's Cold War-era source novels to reflect the current angst: The 2002 "Identity" immediate post-9/11 confusion, "Supremacy" regret at what may have been done wrong in the name of patriotism, and "Ultimatum," now, anger at being misled into those actions as elusive truth is finally revealed.

"It's pretty obvious what story there was left to tell," Damon notes. "Whatever loose ends there were, you want to tie up. And you want the movie to feel like it's current. Ultimately, it's a popcorn summer movie, but hopefully with a little more."

But not too much more. Undeniably political in his other films, Greengrass wanted to ensure that, above all, people just have a good time at "Ultimatum."

"My primary objective, always, is the ride," the director says.

"It's got to be the best ride of the summer. But what is the Bourne franchise relative to the other franchises? A bunch of these franchise movies come out during the course of the summer, but Bourne is distinctive because he's a real man, and it's the world that you see right outside your door. It's not magical, it's not idyllic, it's not drawn from a comic book. Of course, his locale is mainly Europe, but the Bourne franchise works when the physical, but also emotional landscape in which he operates is contemporary.

"But there's a difference between being contemporary and being topical," Greengrass explains. "I don't think Bourne should ever be topical. People don't come on a Saturday night to see a movie about terrorism. That's not entertainment. But if Bourne is going to go home in this, he's got to get to the heart of our worst fantasies of what government black ops programs could be. But that's a dash of Worcestershire sauce, isn't it? It makes the dish work, but it's not the dish itself."

The main dish might actually be Jason Bourne's extremely capable yet deeply haunted character itself. Many have described the franchise as the James Bond series for the 21st century. Even the most recent Bond film, "Casino Royale," seemed to borrow some of "Bourne's" harder-edged, tortured tones.

Damon says the similarities essentially end there.

"The comparison to Bond kind of stops at they're both spies and they both have initials of J.B. To me, the characters are so fundamentally different. I bumped into Pierce Brosnan and had this conversation. He said that Bond was just un-updatable; he's a creature of the 1960s, an imperialist, misogynist guy who slurps martinis and kills people and cracks jokes about it. Bourne is a guy who is not with the government, the whole government is after him. He's this paranoid, serial monogamist whose girlfriend has been killed, and he doesn't even think about other women. He feels incredible guilt for the things that he's done, and he's trying to figure out what they are so he can atone for them."

All of which indicates why Bourne has held up so well through three films now. But is there enough there to give it the kind of longevity the almost-50-year-old Bond franchise has enjoyed?

"I'm very ready to move on," says Damon. "But the reality is that the story for this trilogy, this guy's search for his identity, is over. He's got all the answers. So what would the fourth one be about? ... Paul said we could call it 'The Bourne Redundancy."'

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He wasn't Bourne yesterday

Matt Damon is greatly impressed by some of the unique action sequences he and director Paul Greengrass put on screen in "The Bourne Ultimatum."

"I always liked the Tangier sequence because I was running along the roofs, and it was full-on, absolutely flat-out," he says of one incredibly complicated foot chase. "I was just grabbing at things -- and all of the things that a bunch of guys come up with when they're on a real location, we tried. Paul came up with Waterloo (an elaborate cat-and-mouse pursuit in the busy London train station -- filmed while it was packed with real commuters). That was, like, all his design: What would it be like to have a guy leading a complete novice through trying to elude assassins? I love that sequence. And the car chase, too."

But when it came to the impressive, hand-to-hand fight between Jason Bourne and a Moroccan hit man, played by British actor Joey Ansah, Damon could've sat that one out. "Everything was so safe, the way that they rig it all," Damon assures us. "But I definitely did notice that the fight scenes were tough. You know, I was 29 when I did the first Bourne; now I'm 36. It was like, wake up and pop the Advil.

"Joey, he's 23 years old! He was just jumping around, so excited.

"The first movie came out when he was in high school, so he just couldn't believe he was in a Bourne fight. He was like, 'Wow! This is great! Let's go!' And I'm like, 'Joey, calm down. I can't keep up with you. You have to slow down.' This was the first time I realized that I'm definitely getting older."

Champagne, PJs for absent star

When Martin Scorsese finally won his first directing Oscar, and his film "The Departed" won best picture at this year's Academy Awards, one of the stars of the movie was noticeably absent from all of the celebrations.

"We were home, in Miami," father of one year Matt Damon explains. "My daughter was actually sick, so we didn't fly out for the show. But my wife and I were watching it in bed."

More details, please.

"Well, I was out of bed before the best director category came up. I was too nervous to stay in bed. It was 12 at night or whatever, and I was standing in front of the television. I just threw my arms up when he won, like Rocky. I was just so happy for him.

"And then when it won best picture, I was amazed. I was so focused on Marty winning his Oscar, I hadn't even thought of the prospect of the film winning best picture. And then when it won best picture, I turned to Lucy, and I instantly regretted not being there.

"I'd never been in a best picture winner before! 'Saving Private Ryan' was nominated but didn't win. 'Good Will Hunting' was nominated but didn't win (though Damon and Ben Affleck got Oscars for their script). That was as close I'd come.

"So I said, 'You should be in a gown! We should be at the Governors Ball!' You know? But it was wonderful. We had some champagne in our pajamas."

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) BOURNE IN THE USA

Matt Damon brings the sizzling 3-quel home

(2) Matt Damon is back as amnesiac former black ops agent Jason Bourne, who seeks answers to questions about his true identity in "The Bourne Ultimatum."

(3) "I was 29 when I did the first Bourne; now I'm 36. It was like, wake up and pop the Advil," says Damon of feeling the consequences of the action sequences.

(4) Director Paul Greengrass

Box:

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