Action Pacing is Superb!

Rating: Null/10 (12 June 2005)

Most of us would reach for our reading glasses to study street maps of new cities and floor plans of strange buildings. Not so for Jason Bourne, as performed by Matt Damon in "The Bourne Supremacy." While running windsprints or recovering from gunshot wounds, Jason Bourne can read the fine-print maps, size up the routes and exits, and not miss a beat in extricating himself from any stress-filled situation. It is this lightning-like pacing that is at the core of success of "The Bourne Supremacy."
Although the companion film "The Bourne Identity" was directed by Paul Greengrass and "The Bourne Supremacy" was directed by Doug Liman, the two films have a uniform style. This is most apparent in the daring auto chase sequences and the action-packed exits of Jason Bourne. I especially enjoy his abrupt departures from buildings, scaling the exterior walls and leaping across roofs to avoid his pursuers.
Matt Damnon is ideally suited for the role of Jason Bourne. For this character, Damon has developed a screen persona that is a cross between Jimmy Stewart and Arnold Schwarzenegger. (He has the warmth, innocence, and charm of Stewart, and he is starting to develop the physique of Schwarzenegger.) It is difficult to imagine any other actor today who could bring as much to this role as Damon. The balance of the cast is superb with Brian Cox as the oily CIA veteran, Julia Stiles as the young operative, and the incomparable Joan Allen as the persistent CIA officer who is tenacious in getting to the bottom of things. The only performer I missed in this film was Franka Potente, who was so good in the original. For "The Bourne Supremacy," her appearance was reduced to a cameo.
I watched this film on the Starz cable network, and at the end of the film, several "deleted scenes" were shown. They were all scenes that revealed more about the interior state of the characters like a short sequence with Jason lying in the snow prior to confessing to a young woman in Moscow that he had been the assassin of both her parents. I would have appreciated more scenes like this one in the final cutting to slow down the breathless pace and provide more complete character developments. It was obvious that the filmmakers did not want to alter that breakneck pace. And in that area--the gripping suspense sustained for nearly two hours--the film cannot be faulted.