FILM: The Bourne Supremacy (2004), Spy-damon Options

[Zoe]

We left Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) in the arms of his lover Marie (Franka Potente) on the sun drenched coast of Greece. Two years later we meet him again in Goa, still with Marie and suffering recurring nightmares of his past life as a government sponsored assassin. Bourne is a man trying to escape his past, but his past isn’t done with him. During a botched CIA operation two men are killed in Berlin and the assassin leaves Bourne’s fingerprint at the scene. What follows is a complex game of cat and mouse with the assassin Kirill (Karl Urban) trying to kill Bourne to cover his tracks, the CIA looking for answers and Bourne fulfilling his promise to bring the fight to the doorstep of anyone who tried to track him down.

Unsurprisingly ‘The Bourne Supremacy’ sticks to much the same formula as its hugely critically and popularly successful predecessor ‘The Bourne Identity’. Tony Gilroy returns to adapt the screenplay from another of Robert Ludlam’s Bourne series of novels. The plot follows a tight structure of conspiratorial revelations and well thought out action sequences. Unfortunately though there is one major element removed from Identity’s potent mix – the love story. Without revealing too much it seems necessary to say that Jason and Marie’s convincing and enthralling romance is quickly sidelined in favour of a more conventional spy thriller plot (albeit one which combines with further musings on the nature of Bourne’s “identity”). This is a great shame as without it Supremacy is surely lacking in Identity’s almost universal appeal (and its absence removes the opportunity for Damon to take his shirt off).

Though Bourne may have lost much of the emotional element of his story (along with most of the character’s dialogue) humanity is vastly increased on the other side of the struggle. Joan Allen’s tough but fair CIA Agent Pamela Landy is a welcome addition to the male dominated government side of things and provides a sympathetic replacement for the villainous Chris Cooper. She also supplies a well needed foil for the shady and corrupt Ward Abbott (Brian Cox) and their well performed dynamic almost makes up for the partial loss of Jason and Marie’s verbal interactions. That said Bourne is still afforded some choice lines and ends the film on a corker.

Apart from the shift away from romance the other major difference between this film and Identity is a new Director. In 2002 Doug Liman gave us a stunning addition to the thriller genre with the shock success of the very intelligent, very real and very European ‘The Bourne Identity’. When it was announced he would not be returning to helm the sequel naturally concerns about the direction this addition to the series would take rose, only to be largely overcome when ‘Bloody Sunday’ director Paul Greengrass was attached to the project. After watching the film it becomes obvious that the results of this decision are mixed.

Greengrass and Cinematographer Oliver Wood keep to the same muted tones and sense of realism that made Identity stand out in the crowd. European locations are never shot in typical blockbuster picture postcard style and there’s not a landmark in sight (unless you count 1 Canada Square). He adds his own stamp though it what I will call ‘shaky cam’. In dialogue sequences shaky cam is relatively restrained our view only occasionally obscured by a back or a chair and the shifts in focus kept to slight jolts (Greengrass obviously watches a lot of 24). In action sequences however, shaky cam goes on the rampage. From the first fight scene onwards it is incredibly difficult to tell what’s going on as we get shots of blinds and floors rather than a decent view of the action. Liman’s less self-conscious direction is most sorely missed in the film’s climatic car chase through the streets of Moscow. Identity’s parallel scene through the streets of Paris is one of the greatest filmed car chases of all time, in Supremacy it is impossible to follow and almost nausea inducing to watch.

Even with the dreaded shaky cam attacks Greengrass does still deliver some impressive and thrilling pieces of action. His reluctance to use CG imagery means explosions look and feel real, Damon’s physicality is also impressively showcased in a great chase on foot (and boat) and there is still something widely exciting about Bourne’s cat like reflexes in response to unwanted physical contact.

Which brings us neatly to Damon’s performance in general. He still looks in fantastic shape and (when you can see them) still throws a mean punch. His human interaction is more limited in this film and hence much of his role consists of staring moodily into middle distance, thankfully he is carrying around a picture of himself smiling - just so we don’t forget he can. Damon is charismatic and believable as Bourne and without his sensitive and raw portrayal these would be far lesser films. I have already praised Cox and Allen’s dynamic and the legitimate face of the CIA is given further sterling support by a returning Julia Stiles, her screen time may be brief but shows she can hold her own outside teen comedies and coming of age dramas. Apart from Allen the other major new character is LOTR’s Eomer, Karl Urban as Russian assassin/Secret Service operative Kirill. His role is a none too subtle representation of the dark side of Bourne, the life Jason wants to leave behind. He too is sexy, deadly and highly skilled and his appearance in the film begs an audience to question how much we should really be rooting for a man whose amnesia and reformation perhaps don’t outweigh his former misdemeanours. Urban makes a convincing Russian (no easy task for a Kiwi) and succeeds in creating a seductive dark side (I certainly wouldn’t mind being seduced by him).

A further effort to keep a consistent tone running through the series is returning Composer John Powell’s score which retains Bourne’s theme, rarely straying from its already sucessful formula the film even ends on the same Moby track as the original film (‘Extreme Ways’). In fact the film in general feels very much like the central, joining part of a trilogy and has a particularly open ending (with Bourne finally back in the States). I have no doubt the third film will soon enter pre-production (no doubt as loosely based on ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ as it’s precursors have been on the earlier books). This promise of a final part leads me to be less than critical of ‘The Bourne Supremacy’ as perhaps in the next film we will see a return to the more human elements of Bourne’s story (and less shaky cam) – we can but hope.

All in all a very successful old fashioned thriller with an overly modern shooting style. It’s not as good as ‘The Bourne Identity’ and the love of a good woman (and the scope for erotically charged scenes) are sorely missed, but it’s still a good film that stands head and shoulders above most films of this type. James Bond better continue watching his back.

[Baz]

I really like the Bourne films and I must get hold of the books they are based on. I have to disagre though as I think this film (Bourne Supremacy) is a much better film than the first. It's all about the action for me and this films has it, and does it well. Once again the car chases are fantastic and the fight scenes are great, even with shaky cam, which to it's credit isn't over done that much, unlike most films now day [Resident Evil 2].

I do hope they do a 3rd film with Matt Damon returning to the role, but like Zoe said, James Bond best watch his back, as my moneys on Bourne.

[Blind I/O]

...does it well. Once again the car chases are fantastic and the fight scenes are great, even with shaky cam, which to it's credit isn't over done that much

I disagree with every point there. And even if you think the action's great, surely you were bored and irritated by the CIA parts? The action's outweighed with pap - this film is a patch on the first. See the two "just watched" posts for further rantings.

[Baz]

I disagree with every point there. And even if you think the action's great, surely you were bored and irritated by the CIA parts? The action's outweighed with pap - this film is a patch on the first. See the two "just watched" posts for further rantings.

Each too their own, but i liked it a lot more than the first.

[beatoswald]

And even if you think the action's great, surely you were bored and irritated by the CIA parts? The action's outweighed with pap...

I think the film was attemping to portray the working of the CIA relatively realistically and these bits might be considered necessary to the story. I wasn't bored or irritated by these sequences, perhaps it's your attention span or expectations that were at fault. In my opinion, just because a film is different from how you'd like it doesn't make it 'bad', you have to approach films on their own terms and make criticisms that take into account the intentions of the filmmakers. I'm not suggesting those intentions shouldn't be doubted, though.

[Cornetto]

I wasn't to keen of the film, I saw it and was extremely bored and I found the camera technique almost amateurish that because it bobs, shifts and follows badly the action being displayed on film. The film overall lacked in many places with a rather weak story line which involved him following people most of the time while other people try to find him. The only saving point of the film was the gas explosion in the house was a good part, but on the whole a poor quality film with what looked like a low budget but probably had millions spent on Matt Damon who I think would have burnt faster than the house with his wooden performance.

[Ade]

Great review, Zoe.

In fact the film in general feels very much like the central, joining part of a trilogy and has a particularly open ending (with Bourne finally back in the States). I have no doubt the third film will soon enter pre-production (no doubt as loosely based on ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ as it’s precursors have been on the earlier books). This promise of a final part leads me to be less than critical of ‘The Bourne Supremacy’ as perhaps in the next film we will see a return to the more human elements of Bourne’s story (and less shaky cam) – we can but hope.

I can't begin to say how pleased I am to hear that - I really enjoyed the Bourne films, and while Supremacy was lacking a certain something I did think it made a very solid sequel, and a third one certainly wouldn't go amiss. Even with a smidge of shaky cam here and there.

James Bond better continue watching his back.

Deffo. It's been more a case of James Bored with the last few of that franchise - the Bourne films have been far better in my honest opinion. Roll on take three.