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You don't know it, but Jason Bourne is behind you, looking over your shoulder right now

Dan Krovich: The early reviews say that this is the best of the series, which is already pretty impressive. I believe that Damon has said that this will be his last Bourne movie. Do you think the series can continue with another actor a la Bond?

Jim Van Nest: Other than Potter 5, Bourne Ultimatum is my most anticipated movie of the year. I never expected to like the Bourne films and I didn't think Damon would be good at all. As it is, I'm now convinced that Matt Damon can play just about anything well. The fact that early reviews call this Bourne the best of the trilogy has me even more excited to see it.

As far as someone else taking over as Jason Bourne...I'm not sure I'm thrilled with the idea of making any more films. I know there's one more book out there and probably some more planned, but it bothers me a little that Bourne Identity was a hit movie before Ludlum went back to write a fourth title. It just reeks of Thomas Harris-itis to me and I fear that even with Damon, The Bourne Legacy will fall flat and seem like a weak attempt to keep a series alive.

Kim Hollis: It's not like the movies have come anywhere close to following the books, anyway. Basically, they could take Ludlum's title and do something completely different.

Reagen Sulewski: It's too bad they killed Clive Owen's character in the first one.

Shane Jenkins: I really liked the energy that Paul Greengrass brought to the last one, so I'm happy he's back on this one.

I think that making a Bourne sans-Damon would be similar to making a Spidey sans-Maguire/Dunst/Raimi, which is to say that I think it might happen, but will be a costly mistake. Aside from the Bonds and the Cox/Hopkins Hannibal Lecters, I can't think of any really successful movies where different people played the same character and managed to pull it off. Some might cite the Harrison Ford Jack Ryan movies; I would not. The person leaving the role would have to be such a non-entity that their replacing would either not be noticed or would be welcomed. I expect that Maggie Gyllenhaal's substitution for Katie Holmes in the Dark Knight will be one such example of that. But Damon brings a lot of personality to Bourne, without looking like he's doing much. It's a tricky performance, because he doesn't usually get to do much "emoting," and I think the main reason audiences respond to the character is his interpretation. Damon, like Bruce Willis, has a central presence that makes all the crazy stuff going on around him seem more believable.





David Mumpower: As a lot of you teased me mercilessly about at the time, I chose The Bourne Identity as the best movie of 2002. The Bourne Supremacy was my number three film of 2004. So, when I see critics indicating that this is the best one in the series, I have to wonder just how much they enjoyed the first two titles in the franchise. It's hard for me imagine a better movie than The Bourne Identity, a film I consider to be the best pure action release since Die Hard. That's a splitting of hairs, though. The current Rotten Tomatoes score of 93% tells me that Paul Greengrass, whom we lauded as the fourth best director in last year's Calvins, has delivered the goods once again. I fully expect this to open to $65 million, and WOM could carry it to $200 million domestically. This is the biggest remaining title on the summer schedule, even over Rush Hour 3.

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