The Bourne Supremacy

Matt Damon On the Run Again in The Bourne Supremacy

Review by Kam Williams

A couple of years ago, Oscar-winner Matt Damon (for Good Will Hunting) had a surprise mega-hit in The Bourne Identity, a taut, espionage thriller adapted from the first installment of the Robert Ludlum trilogy of political potboilers. So, The Bourne Supremacy should come as no surprise, given that a template was already written and given risk-averse Hollywood execs’ preference to invest in proven quantities.

Bourne 2, a turbo-charged sequel, is only loosely based on the Ludlum page-turner. Damon reprises his title role as a recovering amnesiac assassin on the run with Marie (Franka Potente), his understanding girlfriend. Meanwhile, Brian Cox, Julia Stiles and Gabrielle Mann also return, while welcome additions Tom Gallop, Karl Urban and three Oscar-nominee Joan Allen (for Nixon, The Contender, and The Crucible) round out the principal cast.

The plot takes up where the original left off, with ex-CIA Agent Bourne and Marie living under the radar in godforsaken Goa in a rural region India. Their temporary oasis of tranquility is ruined by the arrival of a Russian hit man (Urban) under contract to hunt them down. The chase is on, and this essentially kicks off a non-stop, two-hour road flick full of fisticuffs and international intrigue, spreading from the sub-continent to Italy, Germany and Russia.

Replacement director Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday) has upped the ante on heart-pounding excitement, perhaps at the expense of a comprehensible storyline. The production substitutes extreme close-ups, frenetic pacing and incessant edits for plot points, supplying incessant visually gimmickry to the point of distraction and capitulation.

The overall experience is so claustrophobic that you never get to take a breath to reflect on whether the whole sequence of events is even plausible. Yet it certainly works, which means The Bourne Supremacy gets a high recommendation for being among the best of this summer's escapist blockbusters.

Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, violence and intense action sequences.