Vulnerable But Vengeful Bourne

Rating: 9/10 (27 July 2016)

Supremacy builds on all the strengths of 2002's 'Identity' by giving Jason Bourne a much more relatable and grounded side. It's far from risky or overly original, but The Bourne Supremacy is as tightly compacted and impeccably directed as a spy thriller can get.
Stepping in for Doug Liman is Paul Greengrass, known now as a master of suspense films, and Supremacy was one of his first gems. As I've said before, the original Bourne trilogy gets better with each film, and I think this second entry in the spy series may give us the best performance from Matt Damon in the title role. With his increasingly likable performance and magnetic charm, along with Tony Gilroy's well strung script, Supremacy tends to hit on all levels.
With a bigger budget and seemingly more freedom in that department, I feel like the filmmakers wanted to turn the series in a slightly more action heavy route. Instead of Bourne being on the run from the C.I.A., this time he's hunting them, and the action steps up because of that. Bourne has more time to plan out his moves and hence the scenes feeling more natural and polished. With that said, the reason the action works so well, is because the characters are written with depth and motivations. There are no mustache twirling villains, you understand where everyone is coming from, even if you don't agree with their decisions.
One of those nicely written characters is Joan Allen's Pamela Landy. Landy, a new task force leader from the C.I.A., wants just as many answers as Bourne as she draws close to the truth behind Treadstone. Unfortunately for her, Bourne is after everyone who ever wronged him, and Landy may be one of them. Much like the first film, as the audience you suspect what's going on, but it's far more interesting to watch the performances and reactions of the characters finding out themselves. That's a tribute to the acting and directing.
At the center of each Bourne film is the performance of the great Matt Damon, and I don't know that he's ever been as good as he is in 'Supremacy'. The wide range of emotion and flawless action sequences that he (reportedly) did stunts for is impressive. The best Bourne is revenge Bourne and that's what we get here. It's always entertaining to watch him rip apart the C.I.A.'s attempts to take him down, even on the 5th or 6th viewing.
+Damon has never been better
+Joan Allen
+Amped up action, amped up characters
+Vulnerable but vengeful Bourne
9.4/10