The Bourne Supremacy

Decent film, even if it is weakest entry of the original Bourne trilogy. I'm sure the action scenes were well choreographed too, but it's too bad the cameraman was having constant seizures everytime they happened.

I have never seen a film with so much shakey cam before aside from maybe The Blair Witch. It's so bad I actually felt nauseous at times. By the end I found myself picking up my phone whenever the action started as I knew I wouldn't see it anyway.

But the story isn't bad, so there's that.

I was torn while watching Bourne Supremacy. I'll just go ahead and say this before I mislead. I loved this movie! Unfortunately one key aspect just about dragged this film under the water. The camera was far too unstable. It was obviously done intentionally by design choice, but it was excessively overdone. Through action scenes that had you at the edge of your seat, you'd just come to realize that you were only trying to see what the heck was going on. This made these scenes a little hard to enjoy. But not only was it the action scenes; even during quiet still scenes the camera would always seem to be moving, and eventually was giving me a headache. Just to serve as a warning, it's pretty much like that throughout most of the movie, so brace yourself for an adventure of epileptic proportions.

-- However -- The acting was close to brilliant in my opinion. I don't think the casting for Jason Bourne gets any better than Matt Damon because he fits the part perfectly. The rest of the cast all pretty much played their parts well, so I am pleased to announce that there aren't any exceptionally bad actors or actresses. In addition of the immersive storyline, it created a much enjoyable film. For a sequel, this actually surprised me because I enjoyed this movie as much as I did the first. If you're into action flicks, this definitely will not bore you. If you liked the first movie, then you'll most likely be very pleased with the conclusion.

'The Bourne Identity' was a very pleasant surprise, giving a fairly well-worn genre a much needed freshness. It had its imperfections, but was a very solid and even very good film with much to recommend and introduced a cast-against-type Matt Damon in one of his best roles.

It is up for debate as to whether 'The Bourne Identity's' first sequel 'The Bourne Supremacy' is better or weaker. To me, both films are about equal with a couple of improvements at the same time being achieved in 'The Bourne Supremacy'. 'The Bourne Supremacy' may lack the freshness that most of 'The Bourne Identity' had, in terms of basic structure it's a little samey if not exactly routine. The editing, using the shaky camera technique that tends to not sit well with me, does have instances where it does get a bit dizzying and too much. Really didn't like how underused Franka Potente, who brought such a great gutsiness in 'The Bourne Identity' and her and Damon's chemistry doesn't have the chance to register.

As aforementioned, along the way there are improvements. The supporting cast have more rounded and better developed characters, with the actors having more to do. The final act in 'The Bourne Supremacy' is more cohesive, more consistent and less cliché-ridden than 'The Bourne Identity' got towards its end. There is also even more substance and emotion thanks to more emphasis on that and the plotting characterisation than the more action-packed (but still intelligent and exciting) 'The Bourne Identity'.

Visually, like 'The Bourne Identity', 'The Bourne Supremacy' looks slick and stylish with even more breath-taking locations. The editing and camera-work are not perfect, but mostly the technique did intensify the intensity and atmosphere and didn't make anything incomprehensible, some of it is used more artfully than most times shaky cam is used (too often abused to excessive lengths). When it was a problem it wasn't constant and more than not there wasn't a problem. And this, and in no way is this intended to sound superior or conceited, is coming from an epileptic.

Music score is even more dynamic, atmosphere enhancing and more layered this time round, while Paul Greengrass' drama-documentary style and background to his directing is used to full advantage. The script has more prominence here, and is sharp and intelligent without being too talky in a more script and plot heavy instalment. The story is exciting and thrilling with relentless pacing, poignant and dark emotion and with nothing too hard to follow.

Despite less of an emphasis the action is very diverting and choreographed and performed beautifully. The final action sequence and the subway scene have a real adrenaline-rush quality, and in no way does the action strain credibility or get too bombastic while still delivering splendidly on the fun and thrills to edge-of-your-seat effect.

All the characters engage and are interesting, with Bourne well-established in development and the supporting cast have more to do and in general are better utilised. Matt Damon continues to impress in a departure role that proves to be one of his best. In support, Joan Allen steals every scene she's in and Brian Cox is given room for more menace and dimension this time. Karl Urban is chillingly cold-blooded. Only the underusing of Potente disappoints in this particular element.

All in all, a worthy sequel that is just as good (on the same level pretty much) as its very good predecessor. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Oh man, I say The Bourne Supremacy is much more thrilling than the first one. The first one was like an introduction of Bourne and now since we know the character, it is left with solid story and thrilled feeling after watching.

The story follows after the first installation; Bourne fight back after being framed by the Russian mob and now the CIA is after him.

What can I say; this is better than Bond series, with all the actions, sophisticated car chase scenes, the cat and mouse chase and the tactic between the killing machine and the world biggest organization. The soundtrack is also great.

This is brilliant movie, somewhat surpass my expectation. I thought it is like a B grade but this is definitely an A.

Recommended.

Rating: 8/10 (Grade: A-)

The Bourne Identity was one of those films that some people will love for being different to the average action film, but others will hate for it daring to be 'too' different. Unlike the majority of action movies before it, the first Bourne film, despite having stunts and explosions never put it's emphasis on them, as the focus was always on the central characters and their use of brains, rather than brawn to accomplish their goals. The sequel is basically more of the same, but it's a welcome return in my opinion, as cinema needs films that are different to the majority. It's also a good thing as I'm a big fan of Matt Damon. It's unfair that he should continue to get lumped in with Ben Afleck due to their friendship as he has a lot of talent and I think that the fact he's gone for more art orientated films as opposed to the dumb blockbusters his friend was drawn to like a moth to the light shows that he has a genuine respect for cinema. He stars as the title character; Jason Bourne, who, like the film itself is hardly your average action fare. He doesn't utter one liners shortly before or after blowing someone away, nor does he spend most of the movie trying to look cool; espionage is the order of the day and it works very well in the context of the film.

Because it's plot heavy, The Bourne Supremacy requires the viewer to watch, and the large amount of talking goes some way to distancing this from most other action movies. However, this could also be seen as a bad point as it can, at times, hinder the movie in the excitement stakes and make it difficult viewing for those that do like their action. The movie spans across Europe to a number of different countries including Germany, Britain, France and Russia and this keeps it exciting as it allows the landscape of the movie to change constantly and the film doesn't dwell in the same area. In fact, the film is very efficient on the whole and it never overindulges in anything, which compensates for the amount of talking and allows it to be exciting. Despite it being more stealthy than most, time is still found for a number of high-octane sequences including fist-fights, explosions and a great car chase that looks as if it could have been lifted straight out of Grand Theft Auto.

Overall, I would say that this is a slightly lesser film than the original, but there is still much to like about it and fans of Bourne will no doubt enjoy themselves. It's also recommended if you're sure that every action movie since 1988 is a Die Hard clone...