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Movie Review - The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Paul Greengrass |
| Starring: |
Matt Damon, Joan Allen, and Brian Cox |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (for violence, intense action, and brief language) |
| Length: |
109 minutes |
| Genre: |
Action/Thriller |
| Website: |
The Bourne Supremacy |
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PLOT
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In an attempt to leave his old life as an assassin behind him, Jason Bourne (Damon) picks up his stakes and heads
to India with his girlfriend (Franka Potente). Unfortunately for Bourne, someone from his past wants him dead.
Passivity in the matter doesn't look to be the route to take, so Bourne decides to take the fight to those who
are after him. An amnesiac lead character and plenty of car chases ensue.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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If you're anything like me, then you've spent the better part of the past seven years wanting to straight-up
punch Matt Damon in the face. The guy never personally affronted me or anything, but when I actually started
vomiting whenever I'd see him and Ben Affleck locked in an embrace on TV I decided I'd had enough. So to be
perfectly honest with you, I would have loved nothing more than for this to be a terrible movie. I was
sincerely hoping to be able to refer to it as The Boring Supremacy. I would've laughed and patted myself on
the back for days. It was gonna rule. But unfortunately, those dreams weren't meant to be because Damon's gone
and made a pretty entertaining movie. The jerk.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm still not completely convinced that the guy who starred in a movie called All the
Pretty Horses would be some insanely deadly assassin. And I find the whole "Wow, I just spoke fluent Russian
and totally beat the crap out of three guys and am shocked and don't know how I did it" concept a little silly.
It's not like his body would just take over without his brain knowing what's going on. But I'm willing to look
past those details and enjoy the movie rather than cling to my complaints as if I'm Michael Moore clinging to a
box of Twinkies.
If you've seen The Bourne Identity, then you have a good idea what to expect. If you haven't seen it,
then you might want to rent it before heading to the theaters to see this. Otherwise, you might be a little
confused. But this sequel isn't vastly different than the original.
Reader: Well, Johnny, which did you like better, this or the
original?
Excellent question, dear reader. I prefer this one. The first one was a little more slow-paced and dealt with
Bourne's relationship with Marie more heavily, whereas The Bourne Supremacy starts off on a high note
and focuses a little more on the story and action.
Speaking of action, the last car chase in the movie is fantastic. It's one of those chase scenes that lasts a
pretty good while, and at the end, after everybody's turning a nice shade of purple, you can hear the entire
audience exhale. But there's one thing about the action that creates my biggest complaint regarding the movie -
THE JERKY CAMERA MOVEMENTS! My advice is to sit as far back in the theater as you can, else there's a good
chance you'll get a headache.
During one fight scene, it is hard to tell who is doing what. The camera moves around so chaotically
that you can't fully absorb what's happening. And during the final car chase, it's hard to tell whose
tires are being shot. Thank you, chaotic camera, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for giving me a headache! It's quite
distracting and takes away from what should be a couple of purely enjoyable action scenes. Were they trying
to distract us so we couldn't see Damon's stuntman doing all the fighting? Dunno, but they do a good job
of making sure it isn't easy to see what is going on.
But the action isn't the only thing driving (bwahaha, I promise the pun wasn't intended!) this movie. The story
grabbed my interest at the beginning (partly thanks to a *very* unexpected turn of events) and kept me intrigued the
entire way. In The Bourne Identity, Bourne comes to the realization of who he is and what he did in his
past. The Bourne Supremacy, on the other hand, concentrates on Bourne's past finally catching up with
him despite his attempts to outrun it. He traveled halfway around the world to try to escape who he was, but
there are some loose ends that just won't leave him alone. It's not the most innovative plot in motion picture
history, but it's enough to keep you guessing and wondering how it will all play out.
As far as the acting goes, the cast is pretty adequate. Joan Allen does a good job because it's hard to tell
exactly where her character stands. Is she really just trying to find the truth, or does she want to bring
Jason Bourne down at all costs? And what are Brian Cox' true intentions? Other than cementing himself as a guy
you'd never trust if you met him in person? Matt Damon is Matt Damon. Which is better than being Chris
Kattan.
I do have a couple of questions about casting choices though. First of all, why is Julia "Round Face" Stiles
in both of these movies? She has what can be considered little more than a cameo. Since she really doesn't
have much to do, she just becomes more of a distraction than anything. Giving her 5 minutes of screen time
isn't nearly enough to get my mind off of The Prince and Me. And who in
the world expects us to think Gabriel Mann (Danny Zorn) is some sort of agent? IMDb doesn't list his age, but he
looks like he's about fifteen. He's the Doogie Howser of the Agency I suppose. This could've been tempered
somewhat if the movie had contained some diaper or pacifier jokes about the guy, but Mr. Shade and I were forced
to make up our own.
The story loses steam a little bit when the movie becomes a simple game of cat and mouse, but thankfully
the car chase at the end knocked me down, picked me up, brushed me off, and then sucker punched me in the back of
the head. And I thanked it. The next-to-last scene felt a bit out of place though. I won't reveal anything, but
it amounts to what I like to refer to as a most inappropriate Hallmark card.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Based on the novel by Robert Ludlum.
- Brian Cox and Joan Allen appeared together in the very first Hannibal Lecktor (original spelling) movie,
Manhunter (1986).
- Johnny Betts thinks Josh Brolin would've made a better Jason Bourne.
- In case you're wondering, yes, Karl Urban (Kirill) is "the dude with the mohawk" (Vaako) in
The Chronicles of Riddick.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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Profanity isn't all that bad. There are a couple of uses of G-d**n, and there are a few "s" words, etc.
thrown in, but profanity isn't in abundance. There's no sex or nudity. But there is a lot of violence
(albeit not gory), including people being being shot and choked to death. Parents who don't like their
small children seeing that sort of thing should take note.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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The movie delivers pretty much what you would expect from the trailer. If you watch the trailer and think, "Hmm,
looks like a good mix of action and story. In fact, it looks similar to the first movie," then you won't be
surprised.
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THE GIST
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If you loved The Bourne Identity, then I see no reason why you won't enjoy The Bourne Supremacy
as well. I doubt I'll add it to my DVD collection, but the action is plentiful enough and the story interesting
enough to keep a casual moviegoer's interest. However, if you have a picture of Matt Damon that you punch on a
daily basis, or if you just have absolutely no love for the "spy thriller" genre, then you might want to skip it.
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