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The Bourne Supremacy
"Although The Bourne Supremacy suffers from unnecessary earthquake visuals, the storyline remains exciting as ever."
By Ricky Zhang
It all started with Doug Liman’s The Bourne Identity (2002), an action packed spy thriller starring Matt Damon whose role is a trained assassin suffering from amnesia. In his struggle to recover his memory, Jason Bourne (Damon) eludes a series of assassins while he develops a relationship with Marie (Franka Potente). The Bourne Supremacy continues the story, as Bourne is framed for a defective CIA operation. Bourne must now return to his former life and put an end to this witch-hunt – which could give a new title to the cinematography of this sequel as “The Bourne Witch Project. ”
Directed by Paul Greengrass, who tries to maintain the intricacies of The Bourne Identity: lackluster camera lighting, suspense, and thrills, The Bourne Supremacy instead emerges as more of a hardcore action thriller.
Cinematographer Oliver Wood overdoes the action element in this movie, as the camera shakes in practically every single scene. Instead of keeping the viewer in suspense, the gratuitous visual tension steers into sheer irritation that is forced into the still scenes. Consequently, the audience might simply get dizzy in a dialogue outside of the high-speed car chase scenes.
Although The Bourne Supremacy suffers from unnecessary earthquake visuals, the storyline remains exciting as ever. Sadly, however, the excitement comes with a trade-off with the ill-fated Marie, Bourne’s romantic interest. Despite their ephemeral relationship, Damon masters his role as the conflicted amnesiac Jason Bourne. Julia Stiles, Brian Cox, and Joan Allen play their supporting roles superbly. Stiles, who reprises her role as the spy who lives her life as an American exchange student in Paris, displays her wonderful acting as she and Damon meet face-to-face for the first time. Allen, who plays the tenacious Pamela Landy, continues to dismiss Ward Abbott’s (Cox) advice about capturing Jason Bourne if she believes in “self-preservation.”
While it’s spectacular to see Damon manipulate a taxicab in high-speed chases against a Mercedes Benz and many police vehicles, the tensions and conflicts between the characters spark much anticipation and suspense within the viewer. Through Bourne, we learn about his past, as it reveals itself slowly after every one of his successful escapes from the CIA and other enemies he is unaware of.
Overall, The Bourne Supremacy will give you that adrenaline rush from all its action packed scenes, and it will leave you in suspense. Even though the visuals are mind-boggling and might leave you dizzy, thankfully the plotline and acting will leave your eyes open for more. The Bourne Supremacy’s tagline might be “They should have left him alone,” but you should definitely not leave this movie alone. Simply said, it’s that good.
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