The Bourne Supremacy

7/25/04 - Review

Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and his girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente), think they have finally rid themselves of the people at the Treadstone project.  Too bad for them, they were wrong.  While living in a remote Island in India, still trying to figure out who Jason is, a Russian hit man shows up in their backyard and ends up killing Marie as her and Bourne try to escape.  Bourne told Treadstone that he would hunt down everyone and kill them if they didn’t leave him alone which puts him on a confrontational path with them.  At the same time, a big time hit has gone down in Berlin resulting in the death of two agents.  A fingerprint was pulled from the scene that points only at Bourne.

Jason methodically starts to track down the people that run the Treadstone project and try to find out why they are after him again.  Over the last two years, he wakes from bad dreams and headaches almost nightly.  He keeps seeing visions of a hotel in Berlin, the location where he pulled his first “unofficial” assassin job.  He heads there to try and clean his name of any wrong doing but he discovers a wealth of espionage and deception and that there is a mole, high up in the ranks of the CIA. 

It wasn’t until early 2004 that I first saw The Bourne Identity.  I was so pissed at myself after watching it because how could I let an awesome movie like this go un-noticed this long?  It was a surprising treat and it gets even better with each viewing.  I have since bought the new special edition DVD.  Now we get the second film in the three book trilogy, The Bourne Supremacy and it is no different.  While it may not be as good as its predecessor, it does stand on its own feet and delivers a great spy thriller. 

This movie starts off about two years where we last saw Bourne, and again, he is trying to stay one step ahead of the boys, and girls, at the CIA.  The story is so tightly wrapped that I couldn’t blink because I did not want to miss a single detail.  This adaptation from the Robert Ludlum novel is filled with international espionage, intrigue, and some good old fashion action and car chases.  It certainly has a an old “Cold War” feel to it and I think that the director did a great job of portraying that.  It makes me want to go back and read the books because the movies are so damn good. 

The one thing that I loved about The Bourne Identity was the non stop and out of control action sequences. It was so much to see Damon single handedly kick the shit out of other people.  Unfortunately, this time around the movie lacks this kind of action which really bums me out.  Luckily the movie has so much intrigue that it almost makes up for it.  There are some pretty damn good action sequences and a hell of a climactic car chase.  Yes, there is a classic Bourne moment as well but I want more dammit.

Can anybody truly say that Matt Damon was not born for this role?  He is so damn good as the slick CIA assassin that has more moves than a dancer.  The way he acts, thinks, looks, and fights are very convincing for this role.  I can’t picture anyone else in a role like this, well except for any of the James Bond movies. 

I was very disappointed to see Franka Potente killed within the first twenty minutes.  She was a great character in the first movie and she would have been just as good in this one, if they would have kept her alive.  Joan Allen joins the cast as a CIA chief who is heading up the investigation.  Brian Cox is also back again as the shady ex-head of Treadstone.  They were both good in their roles as was one pudgy cheeks Julia Stiles in her small role.  The Russian adversary was a worthy adversary to Damon but I can’t remember his name. 

Like I said before, my only real gripe was the lack of in your face fight scenes which made the first film so enjoyable.  The other thing that kind of bothered me was the jerky camera movement that seemed to just do the opposite effect as the realism that it was trying to portray by director, Paul Greenglass.

If you liked The Bourne Identity then you must see this movie because it’s very good as well even though if the first still might be a little better. Matt Damon does an amazing job once again as the quiet assassin who just wants to be left alone.  It’s a great espionage flick and it begs me to ask, when are we getting The Bourne Ultimatum?

Grade

What do you think?