Review of The Bourne Supremacy (2004) by Robert H — 19 Jul 2014

In this sequel to the well-received BOURNE IDENTITY, two years have passed and Jason Bourne is still trying to piece together events from his past. However, his relatively peaceful, off-the-grid existence is disturbed when he is framed for murder and drawn out of hiding.

THE BOURNE SUPREMACY takes what worked about the first film and builds upon it here. There's more of the great action sequences and intelligence agency intrigue, which actually forms the basis for this movie's plot.

The curtain is also pulled back further on Bourne's past and a few more questions are answered. In general, this film stacks up with the previous one, at least on a narrative level. Still, the change in director from Doug Liman to Paul Greengrass is noticeable.

Paul Greengrass has a distinct visual style that makes extensive use of handheld/shaky camerawork, which has mixed results here. One instance of where it does work is early on in a tense, score-less hand-to-hand fight in an apartment.

The camerawork there gives a sense of chaos and a feeling of disorientation that adds to the drama of the scene. One example where it doesn't quite work is a climactic car chase through the streets of Moscow.

Here, there is a noticeable drop in comprehensibility, and the editing is rather hit-or-miss. As far as the cast is concerned, everyone gives a good performance as usual. In the last entry, I complained slightly about Julia Stiles' character, but here her performance is improved although her character isn't given too much screen time here either.

Since the plot revolves around intelligence agency intrigue and eastern European geopolitics (to an extent), those roles are somewhat expanded. There is also a new character played by Joan Allen who serves as Deputy Director.

Her presence adds another layer to the proceedings, and adds some additional complexity to story elements already established in the first film. At times it felt like her character was being mistreated simply because she was a woman, but those types of organizations do tend to be "good ole boys clubs" (or whatever the proper term is).

The score this time around is mostly just as good, although there were some techno aspects to it that I didn't like as much. However, they did use the same Moby song during the closing credits that they used in the first one.

Overall, I thought this was an excellent, if slightly lesser, sequel. Even though the directing reins changed hands, it felt like the overall continuity was kept. I definitely recommend seeing this, especially if you're a fan of the series.