Violence/Gore: People (including important characters) get killed. Minimal blood.

Sex/Nudity: None. Not so much as a tongue in sight.

Best Line: “You’re in a big puddle of shit, Pamela, and you don’t have the shoes for it.”

Score:

One of the hardest tricks to pull off when filming a sequel is getting back the familiar faces that people want to see while also showing new characters and situations without the whole thing seeming like two kludgy plots shoehorned together. THE BOURNE SUPREMACY achieves this, and does it admirably, extending the plot of the first film, but deepening and broadening it, telling a much more complex and dark tale.

The acting in this movie is impeccable, even in the smaller roles. Karl Urban and Marton Czokas from LORD OF THE RINGS (Eomer and Celeborn, respectively) are outstanding in their roles as assassins, and I am in awe of Brian Cox’s ability to do a perfect American accent with nary a syllable out of place. Joan Allen’s agent is hard-edged yet proves sympathetic in the end. I am still perplexed as to exactly what Julia Stiles is doing in her role as Nicky, but I suspect she will have a larger role in the third entry in the series, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM.

The film score, by returning composer John Powell, is absolutely superb, with deep, full-bodied strings punctuating the Berlin bridge chase scene. The score is much more noticeable than it was in the first movie, but not at all overpowering, and serves to punctuate the action and heighten the mood as a good score should without interrupting suspension of disbelief.

Characterization takes on new depth in this movie, as the characters of Abbott and Nicky are more fully fleshed out. Bourne also gains a greater understanding of himself as he begins to regain more of his memory. His relationship with Marie, one which in the first film helped to bring him back and re-orient him with society, affects him here even in her absence. His need for her has gone past sex and shared trauma; her humanity has helped him regain his, at least in part. It drives his actions and colors his world view, causing him to react to situations as a man rather than as a cold-blooded killer.  

Bourne has been compared with Bond to a great degree, but in a way I feel that Bourne is a superior character. While Bond has the weight of MI-6 and all of Q (and R)’s gadgets behind him, Bourne has only himself, his innate abilities, and any pens that happen to be lying around. His split-second analysis, internalization, and cold decision making defy all competing planning and strategy. Bourne also has a greater opportunity to grow as a character, because while the Bond movies usually reset at the end, returning the characters to status quo, Bourne is genuinely growing (regrowing?) as a human being, and his character thus develops hand in hand with the franchise. He has nowhere to go - hopefully - but up.

DVD Extras: This DVD has a lot of cool stuff! All the standard audio tracks (Dolby 5.1) and subtitles (Spanish, French and English), 10 minutes of deleted scenes (all of which are connective tissue that can easily be excised, except for one third act exposition scene which I strongly feel should have been left in but pared down), various featurettes regarding the car stunts (watch the go-mobile feature!), blowing stuff up, and fight training, a dissection of the bridge chase scene, a casting featurette, and some eye candy - a photo shoot and a travelogue.

SS