Bourne Supremacy, The MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +3 1/2 Content: -1 1/2

The Bourne Supremacy is the second in a series of spy thrillers based on novels by the late Robert Ludlum. In this episode, former CIA super-assassin, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), and his girlfriend from the first film, Marie (Franka Potente), are aroused from their obscure hiding place in India by a Russian spy (Karl Urban) sent to kill them. Frustrated by the CIAs refusal to leave him alone, Bourne decides to take the battle back to their own front door. But when he finally comes out of hiding, Bourne finds himself at the center of an international conspiracy and the focus of a massive CIA manhunt. Accused of a crime he didnt commit, Bourne sets his sights on clearing his name and ending the manhunt so he can go back into hiding. But his only hope to accomplish this objective is to find and expose the conspirators who framed him to protect themselves.

Most fans of The Bourne Identity will find that The Bourne Supremacy is not quite as good as the first film. Though Supremacy relies on many of the same action techniques that were successful for Identity, the writing is not as strong. In fact, the film seems choppy and anticlimactic at times, revealing too many plot secrets too early on and so killing the suspense. And without the necessary suspense, the movie seems slow in a few places. For better or worse, the film also glorifies violence and the lawless life of an assassin like Bourne. He makes his own rules and thwarts every attempt to capture or kill him with a combination of brains and brawn. And though he has a conscience, at least after the amnesia, Bourne is not afraid to kill. In the end, this film earns only slightly better acceptability marks than its predecessor by cleaning up its language a little.

Preview Reviewer: Shaun Daugherty
Distributor: Universal