Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is back again in the second engagement of the Bourne series in The Bourne Supremacy. And now he's angry and on a mission to unravel a mystery. Well, he did that in the first movie, too. But this time he's angrier and his mission is more unraveling. Bourne, a former CIA agent who used to work as an assassin under a secret $30 million government project, has gone into hiding with his girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente) in India. After a Russian oil tycoon sets up a double murder to look like Bourne did it, the manhunt for him throughout Europe is on once again.
The team of CIA experts is once again headed by Ward Abbott (Brian Cox) with help from a new woman on the case, a tough woman who wants answers now named Pamela Landy (Joan Allen). They try to figure out what Bourne's intent is with the help of Nicky (Julia Stiles), who is the last remaining connection to Bourne's history while he globetrots to solve the mystery. The movie is full of constant cat and mouse chase scenes that pull you into the film, leaving you in suspense, always knowing that Bourne is going to escape but never knowing how. The movie culminates in what is perhaps the greatest car chase scene in recent filmmaking as Bourne is hunted down by both the police and the assassin hired to kill him.
Many loose ends from the first film are tied up, including explanations about Bourne's original project with the CIA and Bourne's personal history as his bouts of amnesia fade away. Although there is a different director in the second film (Paul Greengrass), it surpasses the original because of the filmmaking that goes along with it. In the beginning, Greengrass uses lots of dark scenes and close-up shaky camera shots to parallel the feelings of Bourne. As the intricate storyline unfolds the weather changes from snowstorms to sun as everything starts to come into focus, both literally and figuratively.
The Bourne Supremacy is a winner, sending yet another sequel in this seemingly Summer of Not-So-Sucky Sequels (Spider-Man 2 and Shrek 2) onto your must-see list.
