Overall, a fine sequel

Rating: 7/10 (29 January 2005)

The Bourne Supremacy is a fine sequel movie albeit a little confusing in terms of plot and overall narrative structure. Like many others I too was annoyed at the early killing off of Marie, and on first viewing, the re-calibration of Jason as a lone, ruthless and tragic killer seeking revenge seemed a bit trite to me. This made me 'miss' the first film, with its air of wintry mystery and suspense, and of course the love affair which feels so sincere and under-stated between Jason and Marie. But on subsequent viewing I can now see that the franchise would have ground to an early halt with Marie still alive, as the idea of their constantly being on the run from those intent on killing Bourne would have had less and less mileage over time. There are now many more possibilities for further plot developments.
Where the film fails is in explaining the back-story of Treadstone - its purpose, power relations, corruption. A deleted scene on the DVD serves a better purpose here than the film itself does in explaining the link between corrupt CIA operatives and corrupt Russian oligarchs. It is not necessary of course to have the plot spelt out in stark terms, but a little more clarity would have been appreciated at some points.
The settings were excellent and the look and feel of location shots very effective - although it was annoying that the European scenes were gritty and darkly-lit but New York City is awash with clean bright light.
Much of the acting was impressive stuff - Joan Allen (and her character Pamela Landy) were excellent and her verbal face-off with Brian Cox (Abbott) was superb. Matt Damon as Jason Bourne was fabulous - the secret to this franchise's success is surely Bourne himself; he is dark and conflicted, a controlled cauldron of emotion, guilt, fear and pain, and unpredictable, as we are never entirely sure of his motivations, his direction - and yet we still feel tremendous empathy for him. This is partly due to the writing of his character, but Damon has to take the lion's share of the credit for Bourne's weighty presence and the films' success.
For me, the most striking aspect of the film was the music soundtrack - winsome, dynamic, harsh, melodious, staccato, active - and silence is used appropriately too. Bourne's final meeting with the Russian girl is suitably still, not sentimental.
As for the much-maligned camera-work under Greengrass's direction, certainly there is something a little arrogant, even over-reaching in its desperation to be so 'real' - but there are many more truly fine moments. The final car chase does work, but the best moments are those where Greengrass captures stillness, quiet. Brian Cox in Berlin, a brooding, guilty presence in shadow while the CIA 'hub' office is racked with activity. Jason Bourne washing his hands in a public toilet, glancing nervously at his face in the mirror. Marie's death, as Bourne kisses her, and she drifts silently away underwater. Bourne walking away from the car crash at the end of the Moscow chase scene into a pool of light beyond the dark tunnel.