"The Bourne Supremacy" is the second of the Bourne books that I saw this weekend. Matt Damon was again the dynamic pick for Bourne. I was reading an article the other day about the "Identity" inwhich the directorial vision was an action story with it's central character driven by the loss of self. Not unlike the Identity, this film kept the same premise while switching directors to Paul Greengras who directed "Bloody Sunday". The greatest thing Paul brought to this film was the element of surprise. I'm sad to say that even though the storyline was somewhat decent and stuck closely to the book, what most people will remember is the 15 minute car chase towards the end that in itself you can't help but watch... but is that what this action story has come down to?

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO PLAN TO SEE THE MOVIE...STOP HERE. OTHERWISE, I'LL RUIN IT FOR YOU.

Okay, I gave you fair warning. What killed me the most is the lack of love story in both the Identity and Supremacy. They made Bourne's mere purpose to go after the thugs is because they killed Marie. In the book, she was very artfully kidnapped and enhanced the conflict in what she was subjected to in China (where Greengras set the movie in Russia...another inconsistancy). It would have made for a much more intresting LAYERED story if they kept that part of the book...but Bourne had to have all the glory to himself. I enjoyed the Russian antagonist, however it became more of a comic book by the time the movie ended. I even saw the dialogue between the superhero (Bourne) and the young girl whose parents he killed (Russian girl) in bubbles. Ofcourse comicbooks are the equivilent of a storyboard for a film so maybe it's the technique that bothered me. Aside from the beautiful scenery in India and Russia, I would have been much happier if the next time we met Bourne he was living in Maine as a professor of a college with his wife. It makes a much more interesting story and you save money on airfare. :)

They still have one more movie to go..."The Bourne Ultimatum". Bourne in the books is supposed to be in his late 40s early 50s. Their running out of characters to kill so I'll be interested how they butcher it.