The Bourne Supremacy: Movie & DVD Review (2004)

(Originally published 2004)

Paul Greengrass' espionage thriller, "The Bourne Supremacy," is an old-school throwback jammed with jittery camerawork that's as restless as the plot.

In it, the world is seemingly reduced to the size of a postage stamp, thus allowing the gun-toting characters to dart with ease around the globe. They trot between India, Russia, New York and Germany as if they were going down the street to the supermarket. It's as if 9-11 never happened.

A sequel to 2002's "The Bourne Identity," the film is a decadent travelogue laced with murder, car chases, foot chases and betrayal. It has style--too much style, really--but its story is nicely constructed, it has a great cast and, if you can get beyond the annoyingly unsteady camerawork, it's fun.

The film begins where "Identity" left off--on the lush beaches of Goa, India, where Matt Damon's Jason Bourne, a former CIA assassin, is still struggling with amnesia.

Aided by his girlfriend, Marie (Franka Potente), Bourne is working to piece together the remnants of his shattered life when a new intrigue begins. After being tracked down by a Russian assassin (Karl Urban), Bourne learns that he's still wanted dead and, later, that he's been framed for killing two American CIA agents.

Now wanted by CIA powerhouse Pamela Landy (Joan Allen), who mounts a massive campaign to bring Bourne in, Bourne is on the run, driven by killer instincts he doesn't fully understand but which are nevertheless assembling themselves in his fractured memory.

Loosely based on Robert Ludlum's potboiling best-seller, the film wisely pulls in the reins on the author's iron-horse prose without sacrificing the heady mood.

As Bourne, Damon gives a confident, brooding performance that's never showy. He's just right here, consistently believable, all inward confliction assailed by an outside world trying to undo him. Brian Cox is nicely greasy as CIA agent Ward Abbott, but it's Allen's sharp, quick-thinking performance as the conflicted Landy that gives "The Bourne Supremacy" the sense of urgency it needs to compete in this ripe summer of blockbuster sequels.

Grade: B

A review of "The Bourne Ultimatum" is here.