A sharp, slick and zesty thriller which rarely negates interest, The Bourne Supremacy is the fast paced sequel to The Bourne Identity of a couple of years back. Matt Damon returns as the eponymous amnesiac killing machine, who, if you remember from the first movie, wasn't able to remember what he was trained for in the first place. Things have moved on somewhat for Bourne. He's happily shacked up with Marie (Franka Potente) in Goa, India, sensibly maintaining a low profile. Yet that profile is shattered after a Russian killer tracks Bourne down, and sets him on the warpath. Several thousand miles away, in Berlin, a botched CIA job where two agents are killed, looks like the handiwork of Bourne, and investigating officer Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) is determined to bring in the rogue secret agent.
Like the original, The Bourne Supremacy is a stripped down, old-fashioned espionage thriller in which urgency is just as important as the narrative itself. This whip-smart, terse atmosphere is established in the opening minutes and director Paul Greenglass (Bloody Sunday) refuses to let go, upping the ante until it reaches a climax in a sparkling ten minutes chase in downtown Moscow. Unlikely as it sounds, Damon supplies a steely intelligence and hints at a reservoir of emotion just beneath his murderous flair. The plot may ring a little too unbelievable, but The Bourne Supremacy's singular, ruthless efficiency makes it a breath of fresh air.
