THE BOURNE SUPREMACY

"This is Jason Bourne"

Two years later, Jason Bourne (Damon) thought that he had escaped his former life but his nightmares told him otherwise. His memory had still not completely returned but his subconscious revealed more about his past every time slept. Making a life with Marie (Potente) was all he ever wanted but that was about to change when an assassin tracks them down in India. He swore if the CIA ever came after him, he would take the fight to them and he does just that, heading straight to the source, CIA taskforce leader Pamela Lanby (Allen), the woman in change of bringing him in.

The Bourne Identity set a new standard in the spy thriller but can Jason Bourne's next adventure achieve the same high standards? The answer is an unquestionable yes.

Matt Damon returns as the troubled CIA assassin struggling with memory loss and the realisation of what he has done. The second novel in author Robert Ludlum's Bourne Trilogy, The Bourne Supremacy takes up the story two years after the events of the first. Here we find Jason still suffering with amnesia but his subconscious is revealing memories while he sleeps, memories that he would rather forget. This is what makes the character so intriguing. You know as much about his past as he does and you the viewer follow him on his journey as he finds out what he has done as more revelations are revealed.

Matt Damon is what makes these movies so watchable. He has crafted a character that is both vulnerable and deadly; as his emotions and mental torment are subdued by the black-ops training he received as part of the CIA's Treadstone project. This is a character of very few words but Damon can convey much more in just a look or a glance. This is what draws you into the character's emotional sense of being because you feel what he is going through as the revelations about his past come back to haunt him. This is truly an action hero for the new millennium, one that is real, feels pain and not an indestructible superhero.

Supporting Damon's excellent portrayal is a fantastic supporting cast. Joan Allen proves again what a great character actress she is as CIA agent Pamela Lanby. This is a strong female role for the actress and she brings her own authority to the part. Karl Urban continues to make a name for himself in Hollywood with another fine performance as the emotionless assassin Kirill. He might not have much dialogue in the piece but it is his actions that make the character such a good nemesis for Bourne. Most of the surviving cast members from the first also return. Brian Cox gets the chance to expand his role as CIA Special-Ops director Ward Abbott and brings a lot more backstory to the character and the Treadstone programme. Julia Stiles returns as Nicky and the character plays a pivotal part in advancing the storyline. Franka Potente also comes back to play Marie and there is also a cameo that is intrinsic to the plot.

What pushes the Bourne movies above other Hollywood high action thrillers is its believable action intermixed with a riveting plot. Nothing is over the top here. Fights are quick and deadly, car chases are fast and hazardous but both of them have real consequences. When a character is injured they are actually injured, they don't recover within two minutes and continue fight as nothing has happened. They react as you would in the real world, adding to the believability of the piece.

The Bourne Supremacy is a first rate action thriller. You do have to have seen the first movie to gain full enjoyment of the film but director Paul Greengrass and his cast and crew have done a great job continuing the adventures of Jason Bourne. With its brilliant blend of pulsating action and an ever-twisting plot, this is riveting stuff from start to finish, making it the best espionage franchise currently on the silver screen.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic with Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is extremely good. Jason Bourne's dark and dingy world is vividly realised with a very sharp picture, even though director Paul Greengrass chose to make the image very grey. The sound quality is superb, especially during the energetic action sequences.

BONUS FEATURES

Feature commentary with director Paul Greengrass
An interesting and informative commentary track from an up and coming director reveals that he is a talent to be watched. Covering all the technical and story driven decisions made for the movie, Greengrass reveals many secrets about the filming process including the idea of bringing the audience into the action and making the film a lot darker than the first. This is a good commentary track that covers all the bases about what you want to know about the continuation of the Bourne franchise.

Explosive Deleted Scenes (7.12 mins)
Entitled 'Shack', 'Naples - buys the car', 'Abbott Gretkov in Berlin', 'Bourne in the car, writing in a book' and 'Westin Grande Lobby', these five deleted scenes don't really add much to the movie but without a commentary track or introduction, we don't know why they were removed.

Matching Identities: Casting (5.28 mins)
Director Paul Greengrass, executive producer Frank Marshall, producer Patrick Crowley and stars Matt Damon, Brian Cox, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles, Gabriel Mann and Karl Urban talk about the characters of The Bourne Supremacy, both old and new.

Keeping it Real (5.00 mins)
Director Paul Greengrass, executive producer Frank Marshall, producer Patrick Crowley, cameraman Klemens Becker and stars Matt Damon, Franka Potente and Karl Urban talking about creating a new look for the Bourne franchise. They reveal how a documentary approach was used and the new camera techniques that were adapted for the shoot.

Blowing things up (4.02 mins)
Director Paul Greengrass, producer Patrick Crowley, stunt coordinator Dan Bradley, special effects foreman James Bomalick and star Matt Damon take you behind the scenes of the house explosion in Berlin.

On the movie with Jason Bourne (4.52 mins)
Director Paul Greengrass, executive producer Frank Marshall, producer Patrick Crowley, stunt coordinator Dan Bradley, special effects foreman James Bomalick and stars Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Joan Allen and Brian Cox talk about shooting in Berlin, Moscow and Goa.

Bourne to be Wild: Fight Training (4.22 mins)
Director Paul Greengrass, executive producer Frank Marshall, fight coordinator Jeff Imada and Matt Damon take you through the different fight techniques used to make the house fight look very real and unstructured.

Crash Cam: Racing through the street of Moscow (6.03 mins)
Director Paul Greengrass, executive producer Frank Marshall, producer Patrick Crowley, stunt coordinator Dan Bradley, special effects foreman James Bomalick, picture vehicle coordinator Graham Kelly and stars Matt Damon and Karl Urban take you behind the scenes of the climatic car chase through the streets of Moscow.

The Go-Mobile revs up for action (6.50 mins)
Director Paul Greengrass, executive producer Frank Marshall, stunt coordinator Dan Bradley, Go-Stunts' Scott Rogers, Go-Stunts coordinator Darren Prescott, stunt driver Kevin Scott, engineer Rick Cresse and star Matt Damon talk about the invention of the Go-Mobile and how it will change how car chases are filmed forever.

Anatomy of a scene: Explosive Bridge Chase scene (4.42 mins)
Director Paul Greengrass, producer Patrick Crowley, stunt coordinator Dan Bradley and star Matt Damon take you through how the bridge chase was constructed and show you how Matt Damon worked on his own stunts.

Scoring with John Powell (4.48 mins)
Composer John Powell takes you through the process of writing a score for a movie. He talk about expanding on the themes he had written for The Bourne Identity and introducing new music for characters, emotion and the setting of a scene.

Trailers
Previews for Van Helsing, The Chronicles of Riddick, The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black SE and The Bourne Identity SE

OVERALL

Universal have put together a good collection of featurettes to cover most of the production of The Bourne Supremacy. The commentary track is also good but it would have been good to her Paul Greengrass's reasons for removing the deleted scenes. Overall the DVD package is good and should please fans of the Bourne franchise.

DVD

The Bourne Identity

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2004