The Unseen Movie Review

The Bourne Supremacy

The hit 2002 amnesiac spy thriller The Bourne Identity was a surprisingly intelligent and enjoyable reworking of the genre, helped greatly by the unusual choice of director. The man in charge, Doug Liman, was previously best known for his cult movies Swingers and Go, and was a brave choice to tackle a big-budget summer movie fronted by one of Hollywood’s hottest stars, Matt Damon. For the sequel, Liman has moved on, but the studio has decided to risk it again by getting in another director with no experience of either the genre or making blockbusters.

It is rare for a director to make the move from television to film, and rarer still for such a move to pay off. They are very different media, despite all the apparent similarities, with cinema being by far the more demanding. Having learned his trade making television documentaries for the likes of World in Action, The Bourne Supremacy’s helm, Paul Greengrass, has only made a few big screen outings before, yet here demonstrates amply that it is possible to use such a position to his advantage.

Much like its predecessor, this movie is an unqualified success. Greengrass deftly combines documentary-style visuals with paranoid spy antics to create a claustrophobic and frantic action thriller. It is a bold move, harking back to the likes of classics The Ipcress File and The French Connection, bringing a grainy realism to a genre which, for the last few years, has mostly been overwhelmed with the gloss of the Bond films or Charlie’s Angels.

Matt Damon once again puts in a remarkably accomplished performance, putting his old writing partner and best buddy Ben Affleck to shame. After their Oscar win for Good Will Hunting, the Affleck/Damon partnership seemed set to take over Hollywood with their combination of apparent intelligence, good looks and easy humour. After a few more films together (though sadly no more scripts), Affleck’s star has plummeted after a string of box office disasters like the unpronounceable and unwatchable Gigli, while Damon’s film choices seem far better considered, with the likes of The Talented Mr Ripley and the Bourne franchise.

Where the first film found Bourne desperately trying to piece together who he is while avoiding the unwelcome attention of various agencies, the second sees him still recovering from his former amnesia, and desperately trying to escape the continued unwanted intrusions of his violent past. If only it were that simple. Drawn into yet more plots and conspiracies, Bourne finds himself embroiled in an international game of cat and mouse which he must win if he is ever to reclaim his life, even if he still doesn’t know precisely what his life is…

When the third film in the series hits the multiplexes in a few years, it seems likely that Damon will return once again. On the basis of the first two in the series, this can only be a good thing. The only concern remains the question: why are the three best films of the summer all sequels?

posted by Nosemonkey @ 12:00 AM