Throwback Thursday Review: 'The Bourne Supremacy'

This week I continue my Bourne Throwback Thursday Reviews in the lead up to the fifth installment, that was recently revealed to be titled Jason Bourne. I'm reviewing each Bourne flick bimonthly, so the next two reviews will come in May and July. Next week's Throwback Thursday Review will be Iron Man 2 as I'm aiming to review the Iron Man and Captain America films before Captain America: Civil War.

'The Bourne Supremacy' Review

The Bourne Supremacy is the second installment in the Bourne franchise and once again showcases high octane spy action and well coordinated, intense stunt work. This time around, there's a fresh perspective on the character from director Paul Greengrass. Greeengrass gets the ball rolling with a faster paced film, yet at the same time ensures that some scenes are slowed down to provide a proper sense of levity. The camerawork does a great job of making the action seem more intense and intimate for the audience. There's a little shaky-cam but it has a reserved use so it's not too bad. The screenplay is also well crafted by writer Tony Gilroy who provides a great base of support for the performances, plot, and the film in general. Speaking of performances, Matt Damon's back and certainly proves that he can lead a film, and beyond that proves he's more than capable of carrying an action franchise. Damon gets to dive into exploring more of the character's past and even gets to showcase some emotional acting range in a few key scenes that impressed me, at the same time manages to play the hard-edged, supreme spy Jason Bourne. Damon nails it and really seems to have a great understanding of this character. Franka Potente, the love interest from the original, returns but briefly. However her character's explored a bit more and her chemistry with Damon improved since the first film. Joan Allen delivers in the supporting capacity as CIA head, Pamela Landry, and is terrific onscreen. One thing I really enjoyed was her verbal sparring with Bourne that happened a few times. One of my issues though was with the film's weak villain that doesn't really have a purpose. Karl Urban is a Russian spy, Kirill, whose primary purpose in the plot is to frame Jason Bourne for some criminal activities but beyond that doesn't really have much to offer to the plot. It also seems lacking that he's doing this because he was told to rather than personal vendetta or something more interesting. I can confidently say that The Bourne Supremacy improves upon most of the aspects I saw as weaknesses in it's predecessor and ups the strengths making for another entertaining and thrilling spy flick.

Film Assessment: B