Great action flick, not quite on par for first installment

Rating: 9/10 (26 July 2004)

In the "Bourne Supremacy", Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) must once again fend off constant attacks from assassins, police, agents and various other areas of law enforcement. Of course, they are no match for Bourne's expertise in climbing, running, magazine-whipping, jumping,driving or ability to work a toaster. The only problems I had with this movie was the herky-jerky camera style that Greengrass uses when it comes to fights. This technique does do itself justice later in film with a spectacular car chase. One of the things I like about these films are the amount of time Bourne goes along without dialogue. He spends much of his time thinking quickly before he acts. I love the scenes where he pulls out a map and scans over in a blink for an exit strategy. These are scenes that separate Bourne from others. However, there is another assassin after him in this movie who seems as if he knows where everyone is going before they do. Don't want to make it too easy for Bourne to dispense all comers in a few swift moves. All the usual characters show up in "B.S", including a few bit players Nikki (Julia Stiles) and the tall skinny guy with short buzzed hair (don't know his name). All of these actors give the show continuity. Very good is Joan Allen as Agent Landy, an agent who is out of the loop before two of her agents are supposedly killed by Bourne. Her sparring with the senior staff in the CIA is another subplot of the film. Overall a good film, could have used better direction during the fights where I couldn't tell what was going on half the time. Can't wait for the "Bourne Ultimatum".