Once again, Matt Damon has a field day as amnesiac Jason Bourne, the multi-lingual lean mean fighting machine, a one time assassin for the CIA whose deep seated survival instincts and murderous skills rose from his unconscious when he blew the cover he didn’t know he had when he went in search of his identity in author Robert Ludlum’s “The Bourne Identity.” Jason finds peace and tranquillity with Maire (Franka Potente), his rescuer, in a remote corner of the world for a few years. He’s still trying to find out who he is, where he came from and why people were trying to kill him when he’s recognized by a Russian hit man (Karl Urban) on the prowl in “The Bourne Supremacy.”

Jason is pursued by the Russian, a cold war assassin in the employ of an oil magnate who once held a high position in the Politburo. Jason has little time to mourn when Marie becomes collateral damage. His globe trotting turns fragments of his tormented dreams into stepping stones back into his past and the secret mission that links him to the Russian gangster and CIA chief Ward Abbott (Brian Cox) who want him killed, and Pamela Landy, the CIA agent trying to tie up the loose ends of a botched robbery that ties Jason to the murder of two CIA agents. Once again, Bourne’s survival instincts are the centerpiece of some of most believable action scenes ever put on film with Bourne leaving a trail of bodies in his wake and a hair raising car chase through the streets and tunnels of Moscow.

I described “The Bourne Identity” as a throwback to the James Bond films of the sixties because of its popcorn appeal. “The Bourne Supremacy” seems to have a more heightened sense of reality that owes more to its director Paul Greengrass than writer Tony Gilroy. When I saw his “Bloody Sunday” (2002), I went into the movie theater not knowing too much about it. A blow by blow recreation of the events surrounding the deaths of thirteen unarmed civilians on January 3oth, 1972 during a massive civil rights demonstration in the Catholic section of Northern Ireland, the film has the look and feel of a documentary. I felt like I was witnessing history. “The Bourne Supremacy” has a similar feel if not the look. If Gilroy provides the blueprint for the movie’s soul, Paul Greengrass is the one who gives it life. “The Bourne Supremacy” is a thrill ride from start to finish.

Copyright 2004

These are the same movies that I suggested upon the release of “The Bourne Identity” two years ago. These suggestions make as much sense to me now as they did then

The other Jason Bourne

“The Bourne Identity” (1988) - Yes! It’s been done before! - But as a mini-series. Richard Chamberlain is more urbane as author Robert Ludlum’s creation. At three hours plus (without the commercials), the accent is on character development with enough small screen action to satisfy the most die hard fans.

A more realistic look at the spy game

“The Spy Who Came in From the Cold” (1965) - Dir. Martin Ritt: Richard Burton wants out but must go through procedure to keep him away from the bad guys. From the John Le Carre novel before the Cold War thawed. With Claire Bloom and Oskar Werner.

“The Deadly Affair” (1967) - Dir. Sidney Lumet: Also based on a John Le Carre novel with James Mason as a government official out to prove the suicide of an agent is not