The Bourne Supremacy ***** (2004, Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Joan Allen, Karl Urban, Julia Stiles, Brian Cox, Gabriel Mann) – Classic Movie Review 251

Matt Damon confirms his supremacy as a fired-up, unstoppable man of action in the heart-pounding 2004 spy thriller sequel film The Bourne Supremacy. Julia Stiles (Nicky), Brian Cox (Ward Abbott) and Gabriel Mann (Danny Zorn) all re-create their old roles. 

And so in 2004 Matt Damon is Bourne again as tough as nails spy Jason Bourne, the CIA-trained assassin trying to recover his memory while evading shadowy figures from his past. Damon confirms his supremacy in the 2004 spy thriller film The Bourne Supremacy as a fired-up, unstoppable man of action in this extremely welcome sequel to the 2002 hit, The Bourne Identity.

This time, he’s embroiled in a new deadly game of cat and mouse after scarily relentless Russian killer Kirill (Karl Urban) tracks him to his remote Goa safe-house hideaway where he’s living with his girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente). Now Bourne is forced to re-join his old spying existence that he abandoned in The Bourne Identity (2002) to try to find out why the CIA are still after him.

Smart, stylish and vibrant, this clever spy thriller is a pounding, dynamic, edge-of-seat thriller ride. It performed that rare trick at the London press show: its amazing final car chase raised a huge cheer at the climax.

Credit where credit is due: the Moscow car chase scene won veteran Russian stunt coordinator Viktor Ivanov and Scottish stunt driver Gillie McKenzie the Best Vehicle award for their driving at the 2005 Taurus World Stunt Awards. The film’s second unit director Dan Bradley won the award for stunt coordinator.

Joan Allen proves a classy addition to the cast as Pamela Landy, the canny, chilly CIA boss out to terminate Bourne for a double murder. Julia Stiles (Nicky), Brian Cox (Ward Abbott) and Gabriel Mann (Danny Zorn) all re-create their old roles. Brian Cox has got a lot to do in Supremacy, and his two Bourne films can be considered among the Best of Brian Cox movies. He makes a very good villain, quite chilling.

Paul Greengrass takes over the direction from Doug Liman, who stays on as producer, and Greengrass establishes his Supremacy too. With Greengrass’s jittery, documentary-style realist filming, it’s a nerve-jangling winner.

The screenplay by Tony Gilroy has the name of Robert Ludlum’s second Bourne novel, published in 1986, but its plot is completely different.

It was released in the US on 23 July 2004 by Universal Pictures to much acclaim and success, grossing $290 million on a $75 million budget.

Damon looks good to go for a third movie. And so he did in 2007, filming the last movie in Robert Ludlum’s original trilogy, The Bourne Ultimatum, also with Greengrass.

Damon’s stand-in, personal trainer and chef all get credits, so he must have been well looked after!

It was announced on 16 September 2014 that Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass are making a return to the Bourne franchise in a new movie due for the July 1 2016 release date slotted by Universal for the planned sequel to Jeremy Renner’s 2012 spinoff The Bourne Legacy as special agent Aaron Cross. It is Jason Bourne, released in the UK on 27 July 2016 and the US on 29 July 2016.

The cast are Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, Joan Allen as Pamela Landy, Brian Cox as Ward Abbott, Franka Potente as Marie Helena Kreutz, Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons, Karl Urban as Kirill, Karel Roden as Yuri Gretkov, Gabriel Mann as Danny Zorn, Marton Csokas as Jarda, Tomas Arana as Martin Marshall, Tom Gallop as Tom Cronin, Michelle Monaghan as Kim, and Oksana Akinshina as Irena Neski.

The producers replaced Doug Liman with British director Paul Greengrass because of difficulties Liman had making the first film, and their unwillingness to work with him again. Greengrass was hired after the producers saw his 2002 film Bloody Sunday and thought his participatory visual style would suit their film.

The scenes in the film were shot in reverse order. Some portions of the car chase and the film’s ending were shot in Moscow, then most of the rest of the film was shot in and around Berlin, and the opening scenes in Goa, India were filmed last.

Two weeks before the film’s release, Greengrass and Damon devised a new ending that would cost $200,000 and involve Damon leaving the set of Ocean’s 12 for a re-shoot. The producers agreed reluctantly, and the movie tested 10 points higher with the new ending.

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 251

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