Customer Reviews

The Bourne Supremacy

5 star:		(157)
4 star:		(144)
3 star:		(80)
2 star:		(40)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

There are no world domination conspiracies. No extravagant super-gadgets. No deadly supermodels and megalomaniac geniuses. Just Bourne, his wits, a couple of guns, and whatever else he can get his hands on.

Firmly entrenched in reality (as much as having a martial arts expert with photographic memory, incredible marksmanship and driving skills, coupled with fluency in at least four languages, and spycraft/black ops training is feasible in the real world), The Bourne Supremacy follows in the footsteps of The Bourne Identity to deliver solid action which is a refreshing break from the cartoon shenanigans of Bond.

The film opens two years after the events of The Bourne Identity, where Jason Bourne, a black ops assassin played by Matt Damon, had become amnesiac and severed his ties with the CIA. Jason and his lover, Maria, played once again by the German actress Franka Potente, have been skipping around the globe and are currently hiding in India. However, events beyond his control conspire to drag him back to the conspiracies and machinations of hidden players. An undercover CIA agent is murdered in Berlin, and all the evidence points to Bourne. Brian Cox, Julia Stiles, and some minor players return from the first movie, and Joan Allen is introduced as a high level CIA administrator who wants to track Bourne down. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way, lots of globetrotting, including visits to Paris, Berlin, and Moscow, and great set pieces.

The return of most of the cast from the first movie serves as a great means of establishing continuity. Strangely enough, Ms. Stiles is once again delegated to a very minor role (in the first movie, she was little more than a glorified phone operator), but this time around, she has a key scene with Mr. Damon. Ms. Allen has great presence and manages to hold her own in her many scenes with Mr. Cox. Mr. Damon thoroughly inhabits the role of Bourne, convincingly playing a ruthless assassin who, despite intense conditioning to be a remorseless killer, is struggling to regain his humanity. Mr. Damon has once again spent considerable time conditioning himself for the role, and it shows. He is lean, fit, and utterly believable in his fighting sequences. However, more than being just another action hero, Mr. Damon also brings convincing intelligence to the role. The audience can believe that Bourne is constantly thinking two steps ahead of everyone else, that anything can become a weapon in his hands, that he is always considering a way out, and that every act, even simply picking up a bottle of vodka, has a reason.

The image quality of the DVD is excellent, although in parts it seemed too dark. The filming technique used by the director, which involves extensive use of hand-held and shoulder-mounted cameras, has been much criticized, and must have been a dizzying experience in the movie theater, but in the confines of a big screen TV, it serves to bring the viewer right into the action. Granted, some of the quick editing and shaky camera work make a few of the fight scenes claustrophobic and confusing, but that seems to be the desired effect. There are a handful of deleted scenes (which are of much lower video quality and don't really add much to the plot; they are also all strung together - one cannot select individual deleted scenes), director's comment track, and some other production segments. I have not heard the director's commentary or examined the other documentaries, yet. One nitpick of the DVD is Universal's decision to add unskippable advertising at the beginning. One cannot press menu to escape; one is forced to fast forward through the useless ads.

Highly recommended.

Wow! Talk about a taut, mind-numbing set of sequences full of energy, moment and action, this sequel to the original -The Bourne Identity- is that most elusive of entities, a much better, tighter, and suspenseful movie than its original. This sharply spun tale allows Matt Damon to reprise his role as Jason Bourne, the recovering amnesiac CIA spy gone AWOL, this time running for his life through a catalogue of cities from Goa, India to Berlin, and from Berlin to Moscow. And with an action coda that brings to mind the breathless pace of such action classics as Steve McQueen?s -Bullitt-, it is so quick, deft, and terrific one can literally get lost in the activity.

Damon is superb as Bourne, an angry, amnesiac, and absolutely murderous foe for anyone who crosses his path with deadly intent, which seems to happen with stunning regularity in this film. Given the current popular disgust and disdain for the CIA, the movie hits home by portraying its hierarchy as thugs in business suits, bent on silencing Bourne regardless of his innocence or guilt. Damon is losing some of his boy-next-door qualities, but burns up the screen with an Eastwood like set of facial expressions that underplay the emotions and make the dialogue often sparse and terse. His physical presence more than makes up for the verbal void, however. His moves are nothing short of spellbinding.

Luckily, the plot avoids the current morbid Hollywood preoccupation with terrorists, middle Eastern personalities, or religious overtones, and rather chooses to concentrate on more traditional East European skullduggery with undertones of big money and dirty oil deals in setting the stage for murder, mayhem, and some of the most outrageously memorable car chase scenes this side of -The French Connection-. This is an exciting movie franchise that one can rest easy about, knowing it will certainly be fleshed out entertainingly over the years by Damon and company. With superbly and smartly produced thrillers like this, why not spin the yarn as far as it will go? Enjoy!

Cubby Broccoli started it with James Bond films. Changing directors all the time is one of the ways they have been able to keep James Bond fresh and contemporary, preventing the series from falling into a repetitive pattern.

I assume that was the reason Doug Liman didn't direct this part two of the Bourne saga and passed the megaphone to Paul Greengrass.

All things considered I think the story would have been better with Limans style. Liman put togther a wonderful story that revealed the mystery in a way the always left more questions to come. The action sequences were fast, brutal and believable.

Greengrass in my opinion relied to heavily on hand held cameras during most of the action scenes and even quite a few non-action scenes. I have no objection to use of the "shaky cam" but like a spice, it can be over used and ruin the effect. Instead of connecting the audience to the action overuse of the shaky-cam, made it difficult to follow much of the action.

Most of chase scene had the camera basically in the passenger seat next to Bourne and it moved about so much the audience missed most of the best parts of the action.

Overall the movie was well done, but would have been much much better with Liman back at the helm. In the case of the Bourne movies, I think consistency would be better especially considering how good the first film really was.

Other areas of detail were very good. The bombs used to blow up the electrical panels would most likely have been Semtex in a real mission and the prop bombs had a Semtex like color and texture. I though that was a nice touch. I do appeciate details done correctly.

On the other hand, Greengrass used the TV show style silencer sound (the tweeter). That was just laziness considering how the original film went to lengths to use a more realistic sound effect when Conklin received his "payoff" at the end.

Matt Damon again brought a strong performance to the role of Bourne thus cementing his claim to being a credible action star. Brian Cox came very close to stealing the show with his portrayal of Abbott and Joan Allen was well cast as Pam Landry. It was even nice to see snippets Tom Gallop as Conkin here and there. I'll miss Franke Potente in subsequent films hoping maybe they'll do a soap-opera deal, after all there was no body....

This was a good film but disappointing in two respects. The story was no where near as interesting as the first movie. I would be willing to beet that more than half of the audience in the theater didn't even understand the whole plot even after it had been revealed. That and the overly shaky camera work detracted from what could have been a 5-star film.

Except for the terrible shaking camera, this was a good movie with lots of action and a good story line. I had to look away on some scenes to keep from getting sick due to all the camera motion.

Sequels generally tend to be a bit of a let down, but not The Bourne Supremacy. Matt Damon is back as Jason Bourne, and this time around, Bourne is really angry. The CIA is after Bourne again, this time thinking that he has killed two operatives in Berlin. Bourne was actually 4,000 miles away in India at the time and living with his girlfriend Marie.

There are lots of chase and fight scenes, all choreographed perfectly, though the camera was incredibly jolted throughout and too many closeups make it confusing during hand to hand fight scenes. I overheard several theater-goers complaining of motion sickness afterward. It didn't bother me, I liked it-- it only added to the overall tone of the film, which is one of chaos, confusion, and lots of running.

Great perfomances by Matt Damon, Joan Allen, and Julia Stiles (who truly looked absolutely terrified when Bourne put a gun to her head). This is definitely a thrill ride, one that's fantastic to see on the big screen, unless you get queezy easily. It's not really too important to see the first film either before you see this one. It would no doubt help you get to know the character better though.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

As an action movie, it rocks. 5 Stars.
As a espionage movie, it rocks. 5 Stars.
The complementary music and sound rocks. 5 Stars.
The visuals are pretty good and puts you right in the mood. 5 Stars.
The camera work stinks. 1 Star.
Overall: 3 stars.
I don't need to be rolling around the room when Bourne kills another bad guy! It doesn't help the food in your stomach either for those prone to motion sickness.

Right off the bat I want to say that the story line and the acting in this film are both very good. If you liked the first BOURNE movie, you will like this one. HOWEVER, the director shouldbe fired and told to return his paycheck for what his did in post-production. It's like the director said to the camera man, "OK, the fight is starting so START SHAKING THE CAMERA!!!" "OK, the chase is starting so START SHAKING THE CAMERA!!" What should have been thrilling chases and fights were so jiggly and out of focus that I almost got seasick, seriously! I think a wonderful movie with wonderful acting got the short end of the stick with this director. I would like to see a third movie in the series with a director who actually shows the audience what is happening instead of making us feel like we are watching it from inside a running dryer. Good try, hoping for better next time.

EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT movie! While the movie departs further from the book, the story is top-notch with the right touch of human element and motivation.

However, the camerawork is absolutely, drop-dead painful to watch. I hate watching a movie where I can't guess what is going on because there's a flurry of "somethings" across the screen while I'm reaching for the Dramamine. You can almost hear a collective sigh of relief from an entire movie audience when the hyperactive cameraman stops jostling about - presumably because he's throwing up off screen.

It's such a pity, too, because I do like the story. It's worth watching just for that -- hopefully, the camerawork on a TV screen is not as painful an experience.

The story does not make sense and is nothing like Robert Ludlum's novel. The hard to follow story is further complicated by the director's jerky and fast panning camera action that almost gives a person motion sickness. Both the director, Paul Greengrass and the screen writer should go back to grade school or find another line of work.

After becoming a great fan of THE BOURNE IDENTITY, both the new release with Matt Damon and the earlier one with Richard Chamberlain, The BOURNE SUPREMACY was a big disappointment. If it were not for great acting by Matt Damon, I would have given this movie a negative one star rating. If Matt Damon had read the script in advance of signing the contract, I am surprised that he agreed to do such a poorly writen script. The plot had many unexplained subplots and logic gaps and jumped around almost as much as the camera did.

Prior to seeing the Bourne Supremacy, I was in high hopes that the Bourne series would become a popular ongoing series like the James Bond series. However, if they do not get a much better writter and director the prospect for a long running series has no hope of success.

Bottom line, this film is physically difficult to watch and should get an award for the worst cinematography of the year (or decade).

Movie - 4.5

Continuing his journey of self-rediscovery, Bourne loses a dear part of his life, which in turn leads this film to become more of a revenge-driven story, and I love a good revenge story. However, unlike most "redemption into revenge" plots (like a Man on Fire), the progression goes in reverse. Realizing how bad it feels to lose that part of his life, he regains a few memories of his past that cause him to, instead, redeem himself as a result of the revenge he seeks out initially. To me, this shows a great deal of will power and perseverance, which ultimately ties into a quest for regaining his identity, and hence the final chapter in Ultimatum. Also of special note is the change in director. While I appreciate Doug Liman for his work on Identity, Paul Greengrass does an excellent job in directing the action sequences and photography for this one. It may seem like Greengrass' films are more action-oriented in presentation, but I feel the action itself serves as a better parallel to Bourne's personality: being predominantly an assassin above all else, though becoming progressively more tame as he begins to remember everything. Compared to its predecessor, I like Supremacy a little more for its growing character depth and personal narrative. But again, it lacks the length to take that character and his story all the way through. It's an integral piece to the puzzle, though, and pretty good for continuity until all things come full circle in Ultimatum. Standout elements for me in this one are Bourne's more "fierce" moments when confronting members of Treadstone (like Nikky and Abbot) and the subtle interactions between him and Pamela Landy.

Video - 4.5

The Bourne Supremacy is presented to us in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 using the VC-1 encode and seems like a much higher quality video transfer than Identity. And for all the complaints I hear of the camera being too shaky, it actually doesn't bother me at all. Colors and contrast are even more vibrant in this one and sharpness is very precise, which I noticed in the facial features of the actors. I watched all three films one after another in a single night, and believe me, the picture quality gets better with each sequel. The only problems I have are during a few darkly-lit scenes and the one car-chase through Moscow. Grain and noise are slightly more prevalent in these shots, and I think a few closeups seemed out of focus and just short of being perfect. And then some of the closeup shots in India make flesh tones seem a bit on the hot side as well, though it may have just been an effect of the lighting and warm climate reflecting the level of heat the actors were feeling, and not a case of color saturation. Other than that, it's a very excellent presentation.

Audio - 5.0

After recently getting a new subwoofer and set of front speakers (an eD A2-300, two Polk Monitor 70s, and a CS2), I've really come to appreciate lossless audio even more. The sound field is every bit as immersive as Identity, though the film itself is much more action-oriented, and thus more engaging to the ears. Directionality of gunshots, dialogue, and other inherent background noises are perfectly reproduced. Separation between sound effects, dialogue, and music are also well-placed, though I felt the nature of the film itself led to Powell's score feeling the least immersive of the three movies. But LFEs boom when they have to with just enough subtlety, more than making up for the loss. The chase through Russia is the scene you could probably use to demo. I find car-chase sequences to be a good source of these things because of all the engine-revving, collisions, and eventual shattering of windows. You'd be surprised how much LFEs are in a good car engine. This is just the right kind of step up the franchise needs as the story nears its conclusion, and in reference-style.

Extras - 4.5

Like Identity, Supremacy is chock full of the same special features (commentaries, interviews, making-of). And again, I can't stress enough the novelty of the U-Control feature and its quasi-spy feel (read my review for Identity for further details). It's essentially the same feel and type of content as the first movie, so if you like that one, you'll like this one. The flipper feature is also up to your own preference, but remember to be cautious of easy smudges and possible defection if you're one of the unlucky ones.

Overall - 4.5

While the franchise is changing directors at this point, the plot still continues to thicken. I find it to be an interesting take on the character of Jason Bourne. And while it's not quite the be-all, end-all of character expositions, I assure you it all makes sense once you see Ultimatum. But in the meantime, Universal presents Supremacy with some great video quality, and what I feel is a demo-worthy audio presentation. Extras are more or less up to your own interpretation, so think of them what you will, but take their novelty into consideration as well. Again, if disc art and the flipper concept are not a problem for you, but the price of the Trilogy Box Set is, then this single release is a good opportunity to get the film a little cheaper.