Fast, jittery, energetic, and a bit of a formula falling short of the first

Rating: 7/10 (15 July 2014)

The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Compared to the first Bourne movie ("The Bourne Identity"), this is a more straight up espionage tale. It has many of the same elements—the rogue CIA operative who is a highly trained machine out to kill, and a suspicious and uncaring CIA—and it is packed with at least as much action, mainly car chases and fights. And it is well made, combining great photography (right from the opening shots), fast (sometimes too fast) editing, and heart pounding music to rev it up.
It's dynamic stuff.
But it's also fairly "routine" in its own genre. In fact, the plot here is no longer an existential problem that matters very much to Jason Bourne (and his sidekick Marie), but rather a convoluted series of CIA plots that merely frames our here for a crime he didn't commit. It drives his actions, but with less urgency. And with unneeded confusion (confusion, by the way, not to be substituted for complexity, which can be a good thing).
I also found the romance, or the almost necessary relationship connection (if you don't like the idea of romance) in the first movie really compelling—and again it is missing here. I remember when I saw this movie the first time at its release I was shocked and surprised by the limited role Franka Potente had. I like her as an actress partly because she cuts a different kind of leading female (a strong woman in a mode a bit different than Jennifer Lawrence, though both responding to the violence around them). But this will be about Damon as Jason Bourne against the world alone this time.
The rest of the cast is a familiar brood of types, all welcome in their roles if not very original—the wise old spy chief ready to retire (and with some evil on the wing), a tough woman spy chief a little over her head, a sweet spy assistant who is smart but victimized, and of course the Bourne parallel characters—men/machines who are highly trained and dangerous.
If you really liked the first movie (which I did) you'll probably have trouble resisting seeing this one. But crank down your expectations. If you find meaningless car chases annoying be prepared for two doozies—technically terrific as they are. And there is the basic plot, too, which may not quite be enough, the idea of fighting the unknown terrors from your old boss who now hates you enough to want you dead.