The Bourne Disappointment

Rating: 6/10 (27 November 2005)

In 2002, up-and-coming director Doug Liman offered up a thrilling adaptation of Robert Ludlum's espionage novel The Bourne Identity, and in doing so, he presented the perfect espionage thriller - great acting, a strong script, perfect direction, fitting music, and just the right touch of realistic action. After Identity proved successful at the box office, the studios decided they wanted a sequel, of course, so the next logical step was Ludlum's second novel in the series, The Bourne Supremacy. Liman had moved on to other things (Mr. and Mrs. Smith), so who was put at the helm of Supremacy? Television director Paul Greengrass. This was not a good decision.
In Identity, Jason Bourne (Damon) was pulled from the ocean with two bullets in his back and was stricken with amnesia. He was chased by many killers, and eventually discovered that he was a finely-tuned CIA assassin. He managed to fall off the grid into obscurity. Supremacy picks up right where Identity left off, with Bourne in India. Now, he has been framed for a double-murder and robbery, and must come out of hiding to tie up loose ends once and for all.
The film had infinite potential. Finally, someone was making a sequel to a movie worth making a sequel to. However, this project just fell into the wrong hands. Greengrass can't direct his way out of a paper bag. Nearly every single shot throughout the entire film is hand-held. It's tolerable for a while, but it eventually just becomes grating. Hasn't this guy ever heard of a tripod? But the film's failure certainly does not lie in the hands of Greengrass alone. The script is, to put it bluntly, not very good. The dialogue is often laughable, and unlike the first film, the characters occasionally just come off as stupid as they throw themselves into pointless fight/chase sequences for no apparent reason. Not at all like Identity, where every fight scene had a purpose. Also, in Identity, when there was action, it was brutal and believable. Nothing felt fantastic - it all felt very real (especially the car chase, which was just about the best since Bullitt). In Supremacy, however, everything loses the edgy feeling of a realistic spy thriller and takes on the persona of a Hollywood action flick. Every fight scene and car chase (yes, there is more than one car chase) is loaded with Michael Bay-esqe hand-held hyper-cuts. It's hard to tell what's even going on sometimes - it all just turns into a headache-inducing blur.
The film is certainly not a complete failure, though. The acting from Matt Damon and Brian Cox is excellent, as usual, though the rest of the cast is sorely lacking (Joan Allen gives a forced and insipid performance). The film is also quite entertaining. And I must admit, it's still nice to have any kind of continuation to the stellar Identity, even if it's quite lackluster.
I'm still holding out hope for the trilogy's closing, The Bourne Ultimatum. Let's just hope it falls into capable hands.
6/10