Whenever a film franchise sees a change in the director's chair,
you have to wonder how much the style of the film is going to be
altered. This change could be good or bad depending on the circumstances
and the quality of the directors that you're talking about. It's a
risky proposition in the first place, but it's even riskier if the first
movie was popular. That's because all involved might want to stay at
least somewhat faithful to what's already been created, while the new
director would more than likely want to add his own imprint on the
picture. That's the case for The Bourne Supremacy as Paul Greengrass
took over for Doug Liman, the director of The Bourne Identity.
In
this sequel, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is still trying to put his past
together as he's trying to gain his memory back with the help Marie
(Franka Potente). Bourne and Marie have moved to a secluded area where
they believe no one will find them. That dream soon fades once they
realize that someone is out to eliminate Bourne for good. Believing his
old organization is behind the attack, Bourne sets out to do as he
promised the last time he spoke to them. He goes out of his way to
"Bring the fight right to their doorstep."
Seeing as I am a big
fan of the first film in the Bourne franchise, I couldn't wait to see
the sequel. I was hoping it would be entertaining and I wanted it to
live up to its predecessor if possible. As Greengrass took control, I
had to wonder how similar the two films would be, but I also wanted to
know how far the films would venture from the original material in the
novels.
Although there is a new director and a darker tone, there
are actually a ton of similarities that remain when comparing the two
movies. Some of the music is exactly or close to the same and even some
of the scenes are almost mirror images of what's shown in the first one.
I understand wanting to stay close to the original, but I didn't like
taking so many scenes from the first and only making slight alterations
to them and placing them in the sequel. It makes it look like they
didn't put too much effort into it even though I'm sure that's not the
case. I think they were trying to build some continuity within the
franchise and wanted them to connect in that way.
As far as the
connection to the books goes, staying faithful to them wouldn't be
legitimately plausible when bringing The Bourne Supremacy to the big
screen. That's due to the fact that some of the characters that are in
both the first Bourne movie and the novels have been either killed off
or excluded all together. You obviously wouldn't be able to use the dead
guys and they probably felt that a couple of the characters that are
excluded wouldn't necessarily fit here. The inability to use these
characters can actually be seen as a positive of sorts, because it opens
the door for changes that allow the story to travel in new directions.
That enables both new and existing fans alike to get into the movie and
discover new things whenever they occur.
Another thing that's
positive here are all of the action sequences. Much like the first film,
The Bourne Supremacy contains a mixture of car chases, foot chases and
hand to hand combat. I loved the car chase in the Doug Liman film and I
loved the chase in this one just as much. They're done differently, but
they're both equally exciting. The one in the Greengrass version is more
violent, physical and like the movie as a whole, it's darker.
A
good portion of the action that is shown in this film is also done
differently, because it has more of a faster pace working for it. Some
of it has a nice build up right before everything breaks out and the
actual action set pieces are not as low-key or as patient as most of the
set pieces in the original film. The faster style definitely makes this
feel more like an action film than a spy film at times. I thought all
of it was fun to watch, but if I had to point out the weakest part of
the action that's on display here, I would have to say that it's easily
the hand to hand combat. It's not bad, but it simply doesn't hold up to
the car and foot chases that we see.
When compared to The Bourne
Identity, I can't say that The Bourne Supremacy is as good simply due to
the fact that it's not. It does have several good things about it
though. The actors perform well with Matt Damon once again standing out
in a role that was seemingly made for him, and everyone else handles
their jobs just as professionals should. There's also a solid story and
as I stated earlier, a ton of action. This is a fast and thrilling spy
movie that offers fun and excitement while doing a great service to the
franchise that it's created for.
Score: 3.5/5
Rating: PG-13
Director: Paul Greengrass
Cast:
Matt Damon
Franka Potente
Brian Cox
Joan Allen
Karl Urban
Julia Stiles
Gabriel Mann
Matt Damon
Franka Potente
Brian Cox
Joan Allen
Karl Urban
Julia Stiles
Gabriel Mann
Film Length: 108 minutes
Release Date: July 23, 2004
Distributor: Universal Pictures
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