Review: Bourne Supremacy
Regal Falmouth # 2
* * * (out of 4)

It’s hard to do a sequel to a good movie. Bourne Identity was all sorts of fun, and established Matt Damon as an action movie star, something he hadn’t done yet. After Bourne, Damon dropped out of the spotlight for awhile as far as leading roles were concerned, so with The Bourne Supremacy, a vehicle needed to be created once again to bring Damon back, and also entice people enough to justify a third movie – the planned Bourne Ultimatum. The goals are achieved here, but at a relatively high price.

Jason Bourne (Damon) and Marie (Franka Potente) have been living quietly in India for three years after the events of the first movie. Bourne has been attempting to disconnect from his life as an assassin while trying to remember anything about his life before Project Treadstone. As a CIA field operative (Joan Allen) is trying to uncover who foiled a bust in Berlin, an attempt on Bourne’s life convinces him that Treadstone is back and after him again, so he decides to meet them head-on, leading him closer and closer to the CIA project that has unearthed the dead program.

The biggest problem with Supremacy is that very early on, Bourne’s motivation is eliminated. In the first film, there’s always more reason to run, more reason to survive a bit longer. Within the first 15 minutes of this movie, Bourne’s motivation is destroyed, and the film becomes more about revenge than survival. It changes the character of Jason Bourne, and eliminates much of what made him a good character – trained to be deadly, but compassionate, and with a conscience. Julia Stiles is the only person who gives a real human element after Bourne threatens her life. Her fear is real, and it’s a raw, honest emotion that no one else can come close to in the rest of the movie.

It’s still fun, though. Director Paul Greengrass knows how to shoot his locations well, and he makes a beautiful movie. All the major cities – Berlin, Moscow, and Naples – are shown in all their glory, and no one can convince me that these are substitute mock-ups. Greengrass’s downfall comes in the car chase that serves as the action climax of the movie. It is, no doubt, an awesome and breathtaking chase… if only Greengrass had let us watch it. The camera cuts are too fast and the angles are too harsh to really get a good idea of what’s going on. It’s exhilarating, but nearly to the point of being disorienting and confusing.

Still, I enjoyed this. I like Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne, and even with less character to work with, Damon seems to know where the character is headed at all times. Should Bourne Ultimatum get off the ground, I’d like to see more of the Julia Stiles character, and I’ll be interested to see what direction they take it. I’ve been told this movie is a blatant departure from the book; whether that is good or not, it hands the filmmakers a clean slate for the third movie.