I remember good things all the time.

Rating: 2/10 (10 December 2004)

I must first say that I have not read this book, I am purely basing this review off the film that I just witnessed. When I watched the Bourne Identity, I was taken aback. While I didn't think that it was the best film out there, I did see potential and some very exciting location scenes. It was as if we were witnessing an American James Bond being Bourne (sorry, no more puns). This original film kept me on my seat and excited about the characters during the two hour run. Sadly, I cannot say the same for the sequel, The Bourne Supremacy. It seemed, and felt, as if this was a harder book to put into a film. Perhaps it was the direction, or even the screenplay, but there was way too much happening in the short 109 minutes that this film ran. From inconsistent flashbacks to a feeling that you had to memorize the first film to get this one, I felt the Bourne Supremacy was like a spilled bucket of nails  bits and pieces were all over the place, and it hurt to pick them all up at once.
Damon seemed to do well revisiting his character of Jason Bourne, a bit more stable than in the original, his combination of two facial expressions helped push me through the rest of this film. Brian Cox is Brian Cox, his characters seem to always be very similar in nature. He looks gruff, but does he always need to act gruff? Joan Allen felt as if she had something up her rumpus throughout the entire film. Her character had no emotion, no expression, and no excitement, which eventually was pushed off onto me. She ruined this film. I could not stand watching her on screen, I felt that she had no chemistry with the rest of the cast and that she was involved only to collect the much needed paycheck. Did anyone else feel as if you were watching another version of X-Men? Wolverine can't remember his past and the Brian Cox connection? I guess I let my mind wander too much through this film or maybe I just wanted to re-watch that film instead, but there was this eerie resemblance that hovered over my mind.
So, we have sub-par actors trying to build some intensity and ultimately failing? What else could go wrong? Well, how about the shambled mess of plots known as the "story"? What was going on here. I felt as if I was being pulled in about a thousand different directions. I am a huge fan of the multi-layered stories, but only if they have some logical connection between them. There was no connection in this story. While director Greengrass attempted in every way possible to keep us in step with Bourne, you couldn't help but get lost. Literally, I felt as if I needed a road map when I rented this film. What does this tell you? Instead of the choppy, unsteady-cam flashback sequences, Greengrass should have spent a bit more time on some back-story or development. The drunken flashback moments just didn't work for me. I felt as if I could have understood this film a bit better by getting intoxicated myself, instead of allowing the director to do it for me. I was lost. It really felt as if they were grabbing at anything possible to connect this espionage thriller together. There was bad glue and I couldn't understand why nobody saw this.
Actors being average (or below average) coupled with a broken, choppy story is no way to bring us a sequel. I guess if you wanted to build a better reputation on the original you would release a film like this. I should check the latest reports on how The Bourne Identity is doing in rental and sales to see if this is true. When you go into a sequel, you expect to see similar faces, bigger effects, and/or a deeper story. What instead occurred with The Bourne Supremacy were similar yet under-producing faces, no better effects (the car chase doesn't count since you can see that in nearly every other action/espionage film), and a story that ranks among the worst Hollywood has to offer. I am not sure how closely it is to Ludlum's story, but I have a feeling he may not be as happy with this endeavor. It was a brutal mutilation of his characters.
Overall, I was not impressed. My wife didn't even make it through the film because it gave us both headaches. Damon can do Bourne well, but the material that he was handed to this film should have been reconsidered. Perhaps a new director would have worked to give a new image to the Bourne name and style. Either way, something needed to be done and it wasn't. This was a poor excuse for a sequel and a dark chapter in this seemingly exciting character's life. Skip it. I promise it will make you a better person.
Grade: ** out of *****