Directors with Amnesia

Rating: Null/10 (29 August 2004)

I'm not sure the Bourne Supremacy is a sequel so much as it is a reworking of the scope of the Bourne movies. The Bourne Identity was a white shirt of a film  it was a sleek, styled film that made it's metal on intelligent choices, disciplined acting, great chemistry, a streamlined script and clean, flawless direction. The Bourne Supremacy is not. In the Bourne Supremacy, you get bold almost reckless decisions, bullheaded direction, and a crash bang approach to storytelling and action.
From the first moment of the film to the last, it's about movement. The handheld camera work abounds, as well as the whip crack editing and pulsing background score (and it's a great score). The characters are fast-moving, quickly figuring out their next move and acting on it. The plot has been trimmed down to accommodate the action, which you'll barely notice considering how the movie barely pauses to let you think. And when the pauses do come, they are filled with an emotional backbone so raw that you wonder what is going to happen when it all stops rather than what just happened.
You have to know what you're getting into to enjoy it.

Things you should know  if you're looking for accuracy to the books and you're going to judge the film on it's accuracy, you will not like this movie. Matt Damon carries the film with an acute sense of the responsibility to do just that he doesn't drop the ball once. If you can't make out every detail of the film or every detail of the story, it's okay, you're not the only one  same thing with feeling slightly woozy. There's less hand to hand but a great car chase scene, one that belongs in the category of films like The French Connection' and The Blues Brothers.'	In my mind, Identity still is a better film (and I recommend watching it before you see this movie) if only for the fact that it didn't let the action get in the way of the relationships, the locations, and the characters. This movie is completely about the action. You have to want to see the emotional undercurrent or even the locations to get them.
Even so, this film is a head above its genre companions and its sequel companions. I recommend seeing this in the theatre if only for the car chase and to hear the score on THX. (7/10: Supremacy, 8/10: Identity)