Movie Review: The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

The Bourne Supremacy is a 2004 thriller directed by Paul Greengrass. The movie stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, Brian Cox, Joan Allen, and Julia Stiles and is the continuation of Jason Bourne's self discovery which began in Bourne Identity (2002). The film also contains a revenge plot between Jason Bourne and an assassin played by Karl Urban. I wanted Bourne Supremacy to be a greater, larger, better directed film then Identity, which was already a great action flick. It was. The Bourne Supremacy is much better then the previous movie and simply because it's far more concise. Supremacy does not contain any scene, shot, or character that isn't essential to the story. While Bourne Identity was great in how it told the story, Supremacy gets right to the point from the beginning. From the first scene we get a clear sense of what this story might be about. This leads me to my next positive which is how heartfelt this film is. The movie (especially towards the ending..) is very emotional. Jason Bourne is not a character who appears to have morals, but in this film we finally see that he does. It's a huge character arch and I dug the way this movie presented this twist. The performances in this film are all great. Aside from Matt Damon (who appears to mold directly into this character) Karl Urban was fantastic despite his brief screen time. Brian Cox and Joan Allen were both really great and the film fantastically presents their conflicts and character traits. My hugest strength within this movie was how much more adrenaline filled this movie was than it's predecessor. This is a much more exciting film. It has all the feels of a good thriller and presents a much more intriguing conflict. The action sequences in this film are great, but this series seems to keep action to a minimum. It's present, but we're always left wanting more. Not only the sign of a good action movie, but grand storytelling. The last thing that struck me was how this film ends. Both The Bourne Identity and Supremacy have fantastic endings that are a combination of a great and climatic conclusion and yet also are wonderfully edited. Overall, The Bourne Supremacy is a great thriller film with great adrenaline, fantastic acting, and a more than satisfactory conclusion. Three stars