The Bourne Supremacy

A minor step above the entertaining (yet underwhelming) The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy follows Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne as he’s forced to come out of hiding after he’s framed for murder – with the film, as expected, detailing Bourne’s efforts at both clearing his name and digging up information about his past. There’s little doubt that The Bourne Supremacy is instantly more involving and more engrossing than its predecessor, as filmmaker Paul Greengrass, working from a script by Tony Gilroy, opens the proceedings with a riveting chase sequence that’s effectively sets the stage for a propulsive thriller – with the movie’s high-octane elements heightened by Damon’s charismatic and increasingly compelling turn as the title character. It’s worth noting, too, that the movie’s quieter interludes, ie the stuff within the CIA, fares better than anticipated, as such moments have been infused with a palpably tense feel that does, for the most part, prove impossible to resist. And although the movie admittedly begins to run out of steam as it passes the one-hour mark, something that’s especially true of a prolonged stretch set in Russia, The Bourne Supremacy recovers for an impressively strong finish that confirms its place as a superior sequel. (It’s a shame about Greengrass’ reliance on excessively jittery camerawork, though.)

*** out of ****