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| Bourne Supremacy, The |
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  (8/10)
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Runtime: 120 |
| Public Rating: 7.78 (153 votes) |
Director: Paul Greengrass |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Action/Thriller/Mystery |
Year: 2004 |
| Writer(s): Tony Gilroy |
| Distributor: Universal Pictures |
| Reviewed by: Mel Valentin |
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The Bourne Supremacy is the rare sequel to a successful film that equals its predescessor, The Bourne Identity. The Bourne Supremacy, directed by Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday) and scripted by Tony Gilroy (Proof of Life), builds on the success of the first film, by also emphasizing action and elaborate set pieces based on retro-style stunt work and on-location photography influenced by early to mid-seventies American crime/thriller films (i.e., The French Connection I and II and The Taking of the Pelham One, Two, Three). While The Bourne Supremacy attempts to continue its predecessor’s signature style, it also raises the question of the limits of that style, particularly the unnecessary use of shaky handheld camerawork in the film’s early scenes.
The Bourne Supremacy opens in Berlin, Germany as a CIA undercover operation goes awry, leaving two field agents dead. The evidence (too easily) incriminates the still missing-in-action Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), who has retreated to India with Marie (Franka Potente), his romantic interest from the first film. Greengrass unfortunately employs the shaky, moving, handheld camerawork through the early scenes in India without a logical reason (other than continuity with the remainder of the film). These scenes are meant to re-introduce us to Bourne and his continuing struggles with partial amnesia and his earlier actions as a government assassin. The hyperkinetic camerawork is simply unsuited for these brief, presumably introspective moments. Luckily for the audience, the opening scenes are quickly followed by an extended car chase scene in India by a shadowy Russian operative, Kirill (Karl Urban), which results in a catastrophic car crash.
Certain that the CIA has ordered his execution, Bourne works his way through multiple European locations, from Naples, Italy, to Berlin, Germany, and eventually to Moscow, Russia. The Cold War (and Soviet-style Communism) may have been relegated to history, but the Russians, with minor cosmetic changes, once again prove to be solid, if unimaginative, villains (here controlled by a powerful, corrupt, oil-rich Russian oligarch). Bourne’s implication in the murders of the two operatives results in a "wrong man" double-chase: wrongly accused of complicity in their murders, he must uncover the truth behind the murders, which also means uncovering a traitor within the CIA, while also attempting to avoid capture. Enter the CIA and two high-ranking officials, Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) and Ward Abbott (Brian Cox), officials with often contradictory, if not hidden agendas. Both characters are sent back to Berlin with a singular mission: to capture (or kill) Jason Bourne before he kills again.
Following the ground rules created by The Bourne Identity, the fight scenes in the sequel are kept brief, with Bourne overwhelming his opponents in two or three moves; these fight scenes are executed with realistic, unromanticized violence. Bourne’s skills are rarely tested, but when they are (specifically in a fight scene against another assassin inside a confined space), the emphasis is on the brutality and cruelty inherent in a life-or-death struggle between evenly matched opponents. It’s a harrowing scene for an audience to watch, but it also helps to underscore the paradoxical attraction that has led to the success of the Bourne films and its emphasis on more realistic violence, grounded in rules that never cross over into the superhuman (as, for example, the exaggerated, cartoon violence found in most Hollywood "action" films). We may not want to experience that violence first-hand, but our fascination and curiosity also mean that we can’t, even if we wanted to, look away from its depiction on screen. The personalized approach to violence is also mirrored in the second of two car chases through the streets of Moscow between Bourne and the Russian operative, Kirill.
The approach to onscreen violence by the filmmakers in The Bourne Supremacy is matched by its depiction of the world inhabited by the characters and the emphasis on plain, often unattractive real-world locations. The filmmakers employ a muted, winter color palette. Outside of a warmer palette in the early India scenes, The Bourne Supremacy never departs from the use of overcast skies, muddy pavements, and gray buildings as the background for the film's action. The film’s setting serves to underscore the moral and ethical morass the compromised characters find themselves in. After all, Jason Bourne is a trained government operative whose function is to commit extra-judicial assassinations that may or may not be sanctioned by the government (and even if sanctioned, there’s always the question of sufficient justification).
It’s no surprise then that despite the filmmakers ensuring that the audience is presented with periodic bursts of elaborate set pieces (and violence), they also insert an emotionally disturbing scene at the denouement, with Bourne confessing his sins to a third party. It’s disturbing to watch in large part because it doesn’t fit the escapist nature of the genre: Bourne’s admission of guilt and fault, his desire for forgiveness brings the audience uncomfortably close to the real world and all its moral ambiguities. Is this a flaw? It could be, considering it immediately follows the climax of the film, a kinetic, extended car chase scene that leaves the audience exhausted, but satisfied with the main plotline’s double resolution (the identity of the traitor inside the CIA and the confrontation between Bourne and his Russian nemesis).
Besides the above-mentioned problem with the overdirected camerawork in the early scenes, character development is insufficient for the roles played by Joan Allen, Brian Cox (whose underwritten scenes seems to consist of swearing and hand wringing over Bourne’s reappearance), and Julia Stiles (who appears in only three or four scenes). Even more problematic, the surprising, early exit of a major character from the film is likely to lose audience identification (and interest) with the Jason Bourne character and the direction of the new storyline. Last, The Bourne Supremacy mishandles the potential for conflict inherent in the Russian assassin. He’s missing from more than two-thirds of the film, with most of his onscreen time bookending the film. More could have been done to sharpen the conflict between the two characters, thus increasing dramatic tension throughout the film and into the final confrontation between the two characters. Still, these are minor flaws relative to the remainder of the film. The Bourne Supremacy will be likely remembered as one of the standout films released this summer season.
© Mel Valentin, 22nd August, 2004
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 Printable Version
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* Available subtitles: Spanish, French
* Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
* 10 Minutes of Deleted Scenes
* Crash Cam: Car Chase Stunt Featurette
* Bourne to Be Wild: Fight Training Featurette
* Blowing Things Up: Pyrotechnical Sequence Featurette
* The Go-Mobile Revs up the Action: Action Photography Featurette
* Anatomy of a Scene: The Explosive Bridge Chase Scene
* Matching Identities: Casting Featurette
* Keeping It Real - Photo Shoot Featurette
* On the move with Jason Bourne - Travelogue Featurette
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