Thank you, Paul Greengrass!

I am deeply saddened and a little embarrassed. I saw an action film this summer, took a biased point-of-view, and came out loving it, knowing deep down that it wasn't nearly as good as it could of been. Not by half. Of course, it wasn't as bad as it should have been. That film was Live Free or Die Hard. I cannot tell you how much I was looking forward to that film - the original has and always will be my favorite film of all time. It absolutely set the Action standard in 1988 and it has yet to be surpassed.

I had waited 12 years for the return of John McClane and what I got for my troubles was a watered-down shell of the character saddled with a completely inane plot and the least formidable villain of the series. It was entertaining and even cool (the car/helicopter scene was extremely well done down the line), but it was nothing compared to the previous films in the series. Nowhere close. Sorry Bruce and Co.

You have to want to root for John McClane in a Die Hard movie. He attracts you to his side because he is the everyman; the guy who loves pizza, the guy who drinks too much, the guy who can't understand his wife, the guy who would much rather be home, smoking cigarettes and bitching about the officiating in the game on TV. In Live Free or Die Hard, we get none of that.

I didn't realize any of this until last week, when I was shocked out of my bullshit, biased daze by a badass chase film - The Bourne Ultimatum. Now here is a flick that knows how to put you on your ass, stand you back up, and lay you down again because it just don't quit. I have to tell you - I think this is the best action film in forever, save, of course, for The Bourne Supremacy, which I actually preferred to Ultimatum, but for some reason don't remember appreciating as much. I have recently revisited it and decided that it was incredible, with the nastiest, twitchiest car chase that I have ever seen.

Supremacy is a minor classic and that makes Ultimatum all the more impressive because it matches Supremacy's energy with the ballsy decision to not slow down for anything. I have never seen a film interweave its story with a 2-hour long chase so seamlessly. The scenes of "downtime" are as explosively filmed as the chases.

This director, Greengrass, is for real. This son of a bitch knows how to make an action film. He knows how to film his hero, how to have him engage in hand-to-hand combat with other badasses. Most importantly, he knows how to make the audience feel like a participant. You are there, dodging every punch and kick, ducking and diving through all manner of traffic. I love his style. I cannot get enough of it. He doesn't want it to end for his hero. He wants Bourne to endure as much as is possible in order for him to win the audience over. This, in essence, is what made Die Hard so great. John McClane had to earn our respect and McTiernan put him through the Action Olympics to make sure that McClane got our attention. Greengrass, in these past two films, has done the same for Jason Bourne.

I would also like to point out, that without Greengrass and his kickass, realistic style, we never would have been graced with the ultra-cool Casino Royale, which was just filthy good. James Bond would never have recieved such a reboot had Greengrass not shown up with that car chase in Supremacy.

So, Thank You, Paul Greengrass for opening my eyes and showing me and the rest of the world what Die Hard 4 could have been. A Greengrass shot, anyone?