After the critical and commercial success of The Bourne Identity, Universal Pictures knew that they had an immensely popular franchise on their hands. Of course, that comes with a lot of doubts when director Doug Liman chose to not direct the sequels, and they had to find a completely new person to direct it. Luckily enough, popular TV film director Paul Greengrass was rising through the ranks and found this as his opportunity to prove himself as a true auteur in the action genre. The doubts were obviously there, but with the support of a passionate cast, crew, and writers behind him, Paul Greengrass managed to outdo the original film and create something even better – The Bourne Supremacy!
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The Movie Review
Taking place exactly after the events of the original film, Bourne Supremacy follows Jason as he’s once again caught in another contraption of a conspiracy within the CIA and a peculiar Operation Treadstone. While living out his life within India, with Marie Kreutz, Bourne is framed by a Russian agent of stealing millions of dollars from the CIA.
The problem arises when Kirill begins to chase him, and in doing so, he ends up killing Bourne’s partner Marie. With nothing to lose, Bourne sets out on a journey to avenge Marie, as well as prove himself innocent of the crimes he’s being accused of.
Paul Greengrass only made films centered on emotional sequences before this film. So of course, we were going to get much more emotional this time around in Bourne Supremacy. Especially since the film literally begins with the death of Marie Kreutz. There’s even more action than there was in Bourne Identity, there’s a better villain in Kirill played by Karl Urban, there’s a better soundtrack composed by John Powell and the cinematography is just as consistent. It’s a film that fully puts us in the mindset of Jason Bourne, by eliminating the only person who had kept him from being a deadly assassin for two years.
The action in this film is so fast-paced, and it was directed with such intricate style that it became one of the most nail-biting experiences for me. It provides the audience with a constant rush of blood and manages to retain its quality of entertaining while also spending more time trying to understand the characters more through longer dialogue scenes. Not going to lie, Matt Damon excels in this movie. He delivers a performance that feels so much more personal to Bourne as a character, and yet he still keeps that same colder demeanor after the death of Marie.
It’s a constant struggle for Bourne who just wants to live his life out in peace, yet he’s constantly pulled back into this world of chaotic conspiracies that he despises.
The other actors featured within the film also deliver some absolutely stand-out performances, in particular, Karl Urban as Kirill. He’s one of my most favorite actors working in the industry at the moment, and this was one of the films aside from Lord of the Rings that put him onto the map! Karl Urban as the ruthless Russian agent Kirill is extraordinary, you despise him right from the get-go as he simply brushes off killing Marie with no remorse.
I love the camera work in this film, it’s so much better than the original. This one very particular 2-minute fight scene within an office building just looked so good, it wasn’t anything extraordinary yet you could still feel the struggle that the characters are going through in that fight.
You even get to feel bad for the bad guys in this film, aside from Kirill of course, we hate Kirill. To make everything better, the soundtrack just slaps! It’s one of the best soundtracks in a Bourne film. Sure, it still has that rock music situation going on but it works when you place it in scenes few and far off, while most of it is orchestral espionage music.
The Bottom Line
In conclusion, The Bourne Supremacy is a master class in action film direction. It’s a film that you just can’t help but adore! It’s got everything good going for it, from a passionate director who cares immensely about the details of Bourne’s story, to a cast that devotes their time to learning these characters, with some of the best action sequences in the film and a soundtrack that just does its source material justice!
