The Bourne Supremacy
The Plot:
'The Bourne Supremacy' re-enters the shadowy world of expert assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), who continues to find himself plagued by splintered nightmares from his former life. The stakes are now even higher for the agent as he coolly maneuvers through the dangerous waters of international espionage - replete with CIA plots, turncoat agents and ever-shifting covert alliances - all the while hoping to find the truth behind his haunted memories and answers to his own fragmented past. (From Yahoo Movies)
My Thoughts: (Reviewed by Big Pun)
The Bourne Supremacy is as good an action/thriller as you will find anywhere this summer…It not only picks up where the first movie left off, but it builds off it and delivers one of the best films I’ve seen this season…International spy and espionage movies are one of my favorite genre and unfortunately, there isn’t often too many good ones to be found anymore. But the Jason Bourne story, based on the book series by Robert Ludlum, is a perfectly crafted tale that jumps the viewer in and out of the shadows with an international assassin as we wonder who or what lurks around each corner…
And not only do you get a killer story where plot twists can come at any second…where one side is playing another...or where your not really always sure who the good guys or bad guys are….you also get some kick ass car chases and fight scenes…and with the capabilities of filmmakers today, your expectations are easily exceeded…
Matt Damon reprises his role as Jason Bourne and once again does a stellar job…in my opinion, he has cemented himself as not only a dramatic actor, but a guy who certainly can handle an action role (the next Harrison Ford if you will?)…Damon not only successfully tackles the physical aspects of the character, but he also gives us another side of Bourne…the side that struggles on a day to day basis with who he really is…and the haunting memories that come in bits in pieces to a past he would like to try and forget…Damon’s dramatic talents give us that side and make Bourne that character you root for even though you know he wasn’t always that “good guy”….
The rest of the cast is well put together with Joan Allen leading the way as Pamela Landy, a director in the CIA…god, you hate this woman throughout the film…but watch as her character changes and begins to understand what it is that is happening around her…Brian Cox is excellent in his role as a retiring CIA official with secret ties to Bourne…Julie Stiles reprises her role from the first movie and looks as good as ever on screen.
The story opens with Jason and Marie (the girl from the first film) now living in India…on the run from the government and trying to start over in life…the only problem is, someone has targeted Bourne to be an unknowing participant in a rather big cover-up…back in Berlin, Germany, the CIA, under Landy are set to pull off a rather expensive sting operation in an attempt to recover documents that have more than one party interested in their contents…when the operation goes terribly wrong, Landy’s investigation leads her to one name and one suspect…Jason Bourne.
But as Bourne settles into his new home in India, it becomes apparent that someone is not willing to let him fall into hiding so easily…believing that the CIA is again after him, Bourne and Maria try to flee, setting off a chain of events that will lead him face to face with those he deems responsible for making him a killer…once again he tries to not only make sense of what is happening to him but also make peace with his past.
Without reveling anything else about the plot, I will say the Bourne Supremacy lives up to the hype as a sequel…it is a smart, fast moving international espionage thriller…it never reveals too much before it needs to and there are the right amount of twists and turns to avoid confusing the audience and making us think too much…
And best of all, there are just enough action sequences to satisfy the appetite of the action fan in all of us. The two car chases were unbelievable…first through the crowded villages in India and then through the streets of Moscow…great stuff and filmed perfectly…
Lastly, nothing makes a solid spy thriller then the setting…and in my opinion, a spy thriller set across the countries of Europe always delivers…it just has that certain feel to it…whether it be on the streets of Italy or racing through the night in Berlin…that European backdrop is key…
As
far as a third film goes, I can only hope…Ludlum’s series spans
three books with the third being the Bourne Ultimatum…and with the quality
and success of the first two films, Universal would be foolish not to finish
the trilogy.
Starring:
Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Brian Cox, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Rated PG-13