Jason Bourne returns for another action thrill ride

Rating: 8/10 (30 July 2016)

Matt Damon makes his return as the title character Jason Bourne, the CIA agent who was last seen in France on a mission to discover his past and evade the ruthless assassins that pursued him. This time however, Doug Liman who directed the previous film has reassigned to the executive producer with Paul Greengrass taking his place. More often than not, a change in directors during a film franchise tend to result in downward step in quality. Fortunately, Paul Greengrass appears to understand the heart and soul of the first film and manages keep it all alive in this sequel. Though it is hard to say whether this film improves upon the original or not as it does update in some areas but fall slightly short in others. Nonetheless, it makes a profoundly entertaining popcorn action flick. Matt Damon resumes his role as Jason Bourne who is now living in hiding in India with Marie (played by Franka Potente) after the events of the last film. Everything seems just fine between the two as they are living a happy, peaceful life together. That is until a mysterious CIA agent Kirill (played by Karl Urban) began following him around. Upon framing him for the murder of a former CIA agent, Kirill attempts to assassinate Bourne by the order of Bourne's former boss Ward Abbott (played by Brian Cox) and operation director Pamela Landy (played by Joan Allen) which goes horribly wrong. Soon, Bourne finds himself drawn back into the life he though he left behind and search for answers of what they want from him.
This second installment delivers just about everything you'd expect from the following of the original. Like the first film, it's fast paced, delivers solid thrills, and shows lead actor Matt Damon in his spectacular, high-octane sense. From the first twenty minutes, we are introduced with a tense, frenetic car chase scene with Jason Bourne and Marie as they pursued by the devious Kirill who tries to kill our hero, and the scene ends in disastrous results that set the plot in motion. This entire sequence is nicely shot, as it is heart-racing and intense to sit through. The rest of the action revolves around martial arts combat between Bourne and the assassins that, though feature some slick choreography, suffer from ridiculous shaky camera work and quick cuts that try to illicit the intensity of the action but only make it difficult to decipher what's going on. It seems pointless to showcase such distracting camera work of the actors are demonstrating some decent fight choreography since nowadays filmmakers tend to use this gimmick to hide more sloppy choreography. Above all, the film's plot comes out on top, even more than in the previous film. With the lead character Jason Bourne more fleshed out, more knowledge of his past acquired, and a well conceived antagonist played by Karl Urban, the film shines on some improvement and makes for a story than viewers are more likely to become in engaged in, especially the ending which illicits Bourne in an emotionally powerful scene that largely defines his character.
The Bourne Supremacy is a smart, crowd-pleasing action thriller sparked with terrific, if flawed action sequences, and a polished treatment of our action hero. Whether the film marks an improvement in the overall quality is difficult to say, but matters most is that it is highly entertaining and makes a must-watch for all action flick seekers.