Jason Bourne was created in “The Bourne Identity,”
and the title of the sequel “The Bourne Supremacy” lets everyone know that this
isn’t the last one in the series – not with the series running on a high note.
He may not die in any other installment, but might be exactly like James Bond,
with continuous sequels, telling the same story over and over as his character
is played by other great actors.
The Bourne movies may continue forever, but the sad
fact is, there will always be villains wanting to murder him. That will be the
reason why he’ll always have to watch his back. Roger Ebert mentioned, “The
plot of "Supremacy," like "Identity," involves Bourne
trying to survive the shadowy forces against him by using his awesome skills in
spycraft, the martial arts, and running real fast.” The movie’s great because
he is the master at these skills, and because Matt Damon makes this his famous
role without the show-off bravery aspect. If he was a show-off, that would kill
the series.
Ebert is right when he says, “The movie skillfully
delivers a series of fights, stalkings, plottings and chases, punctuated by a
little brooding. The best word for Bourne is "dogged."” After a small
look at him happy, he sinks his head and runs persistently ahead into the hands
of his antagonists, not even putting on a disguise, because he knows what he is
doing. He always wears the same black uniform; in parts where he goes from
India to Italy to Germany to Russia (we have no complaints).
As we saw in the first movie, Bourne recovers from
amnesia with having skills he had no idea he had, and with different countries
passports and other helps to survive, a collection left to him by the villain
from the first movie. As this movie starts, he is in seclusion, living with
Marie, reprised by Franka Potente, the woman he met in the last movie. They
have a house on the beach in Goa, which is in southern India, living a relaxing
life until Bourne encounters someone who is wearing the wrong clothes, driving
the wrong car and ending up in the wrong areas.
Someone still is out to get Bourne. What does Bourne
have that the villains want to put in millions in order to murder him?
Sometimes he feels that he is so close to remembering. Ebert made a good point
when he said, “He suffers from Manchurian Candidate's Syndrome, a malady that
fills your nightmares with disconnected flashes of something dreadful that may
or may not have happened to you. I saw "The Bourne Supremacy" on the
very same day I saw the remake of "The Manchurian Candidate." I was
able to compare the symptoms, which involve quick cuts of fragmentary images.”
The movie has all the basic thriller aspects, and
goes from one action part to another in India and Europe, which then goes to similar
fights in Washington and New York. What separates Bourne from everyone is his creativity.
There’s a part where it takes him so small of a time to beat up an armed agent
and steal the phone list on his cell, and you know that Bourne knows what he is
doing. Remember how he made a new way he found with the toaster? It’s great
seeing him look at the problem and immediately think up a plan, a lot of times
using sideways thinking.
What Bourne doesn’t know about his enemies, we find
out as the movie switches gears with a plan that a CIA agent named Pamela Landy
(Joan Allen) and her boss, Ward Abbot (Brian Cox) have. The hot Julia Stiles
plays a young agent working under Landy. They’ve found Bourne’s fingerprints at
the part of a murder in Berlin that a CIA agent and his deadly criminal
encounter. We know though that Bourne was in Goa at the time, so what’s this
all about?
I agree with Ebert when he says, “We have a pretty
good idea, long before anyone else does, because the movie observes the Law of
Economy of Character Development, which teaches us that when an important actor
is used in an apparently subordinate role, he's the villain. But the movie
doesn't depend on its big revelations for its impact; the mystery is not why
Bourne is targeted, but whether he will die.” He survives one death trap or surprise
attack, jumping off bridges, getting in car accidents, killing attackers, and
finally getting a tad crippled after a chase where he could have died.
Ebert mentioned, “I have the weakness of bringing
logic to movies where it is not required. There's a chase scene where he commandeers
a taxicab and leads a posse of squad cars through an urban version of Demo
Derby. Although the film does not linger over the victims, we assume dozens of
cars were destroyed and dozens of people killed or maimed in this crash, and we
have to ask ourselves: Is this cost in innocent victims justified in the cause
of saving Jason Bourne's life?” At the end of the movie, Bourne gives an honest
apology to a Russian woman, played by Oksana Akinshina. If he ever returns to Berlin, he’ll have to
apologize to probably the whole country, if a gang of murderers doesn’t get him
first.
Ebert did say that, “But I digress. Thrillers don't
exist in a plausible universe. They consist of preposterous situations survived
by skill, courage, craft and luck.” Matt Damon always has something he brings
that is emotional about Bourne that makes the movie engaging, because we really
love this character. Paul Greengrass, the director, gives this novel adaptation
weight and uses amazing actors in well-written supporting roles that help the
movie ascend to the top of the genre, but never out of it.
I’m going to be honest. I didn’t get to see this
movie in the theaters since I didn’t see the first one. I saw the first movie
for free On Demand, and then I saw this for free On Demand. This movie, I
actually thought was better since the political side of this was actually quite
engaging. If you loved the first movie, then definitely give this a watch
because it is a superior sequel and another one of my all time favorites.
Hold on to your seats, because next week is a thrill
ride that I can’t wait to go on, when we continue “Jason Bourne Month.”
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