The Bourne Supremacy
Directed by	Paul Greengrass
Produced by	Doug Liman Frank Marshall
Written by	Novel: Robert Ludlum Screenplay: Tony Gilroy Uncredited: Brian Helgeland
Starring	Matt Damon Franka Potente Brian Cox Julia Stiles Karl Urban Gabriel Mann and Joan Allen
Music by	John Powell
Editing by	Christopher Rouse Richard Pearson
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	July 23, 2004
Running time	108 min.
Language	English
Budget	$75 million[1]
Gross revenue	Domestic $176,241,941[1] Foreign $112,258,276[1] Worldwide $288,500,217[1]
Preceded by	The Bourne Identity
Followed by	The Bourne Ultimatum
IMDb profile

The Bourne Supremacy is a 2004 film loosely based on the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name.

It is also a sequel to the 2002 film The Bourne Identity and the second film of the Bourne Trilogy. The Bourne Supremacy continues the story of Jason Bourne, an amnesiac and former CIA assassin played by Matt Damon, and his attempt to learn more of his shadowy past as he is once more enveloped in a conspiracy surrounding the CIA and Operation Treadstone. The film also stars Franka Potente as Marie Helena Kreutz, Brian Cox as Ward Abbott, Joan Allen as Pamela Landy and Julia Stiles as Nicolette Parsons.

It substantially deviates from its source material as Alexander Conklin is now dead and the CIA is Bourne's enemy rather than his friend (the plot actually incorporates aspects of the Bourne novel The Bourne Legacy written by Eric Van Lustbader as well). In addition, the book's narrative takes place in Hong Kong with Marie getting kidnapped so Bourne will accept a mission.

The film was directed by Paul Greengrass, written by Tony Gilroy and Brian Helgeland ^[2] and produced by Doug Liman and Frank Marshall. Universal Studios released the film to theaters in the United States on July 23, 2004 and it received a positive critical and public reaction similar to its predecessor, The Bourne Identity. The film is followed by a 2007 sequel entitled The Bourne Ultimatum.

Plot

The narrative of this film sets in two years after the events in The Bourne Identity. Bourne and his girlfriend from the first film, Marie, are living in Goa, India. Bourne is having flashbacks of an assassination in a Berlin hotel. Meanwhile, in Berlin, CIA officers under Deputy Director Pamela Landy are paying $3 million for the "Neski files," documents on the theft of $20 million seven years earlier. An assassin, Kirill, plants Jason Bourne's fingerprints and proceeds to kill the agent and the source, stealing the files and money and giving them to Russian oil magnate Yuri Gretkov. Tying up loose ends, Kirill arrives in Goa to kill Bourne, but Bourne spots him and flees with Marie. As he and Marie drive away, Kirill attempts to shoot Bourne, but instead hits and kills Marie. When the car crashes off a bridge into the river, Kirill believes that Bourne is dead. However, he narrowly escapes and leaves for Naples with money and passports in an attempt to learn why he is again being targeted and to put an end to Treadstone's pursuit of him for good.

In Berlin, Landy finds the planted fingerprints and goes to CIA Headquarters to find out whose they are. She discovers that they belong to Bourne and asks Abbott about Treadstone. He admits that he had Conklin killed after a failed mission and has no idea where Bourne is. Landy tells Abbott that the CIA agent who stole the $20 million was named in the stolen files. A Russian politician, Vladimir Neski, was about to identify the thief when he was murdered by his wife in a Berlin hotel. Landy believes that Bourne and Conklin were involved, and, based on the prints, Bourne was the assassin in Berlin. Both Abbott and Landy go to Berlin to find Bourne and take him down.

Bourne (Matt Damon) and Nicky (Julia Stiles)

In Naples, Bourne uses a known passport, causing him to be identified by security. He incapacitates his interrogator and copies the SIM card on his cell phone. He uses it to listen in on a call from Landy, learning her name, phone number, and that he is suspected in several deaths. He then steals a car and heads to Germany. In Munich, he breaks into another Treadstone agent's house. The agent, Jarda, tells him that Treadstone was shut down after Conklin's murder. He and Bourne are the only ones left. After a struggle, Bourne is forced to kill him and blows up his house to escape from arriving agents.

On their way to Berlin, Landy and Abbott meet Nicky Parsons, Treadstone's handler in Paris. Bourne follows them, believing that Landy ordered the hit in Goa. He targets her with a rifle from a neighboring roof, and calls her to ask why people are after him again. She tells him that it is because he killed two people in Berlin, and he thinks she is talking about the people in his flashbacks. He arranges to meet Nicky at the Alexanderplatz, where he uses a crowded anti-capitalist protest to evade surveillance. He then kidnaps and interrogates her, discovering that Abbott was, in fact, the head of Treadstone, not Conklin. Bourne's flashbacks of Neski's assassination at the Brecker Hotel return, but Nicky knows nothing about it. Upon hearing their conversation over Nicky's transmitter, Landy begins to believe that Bourne is being framed. It is at this point after Abbott is shown evidence of Bourne being framed that he kills the young operative, Danny Zorn, in the basement, further covering Abbott's tracks.

Bourne visits the Brecker Hotel and begins to remember more of his mission. He killed Neski on Conklin's orders. When Neski's wife unexpectedly showed up, he shot her to make it look like a murder-suicide. Bourne breaks into Abbott's hotel room and records a conversation between him and Gretkov that incriminates Abbott and Gretkov in the theft of the money. Abbott also confesses that he ordered the assassination in Goa, Neski's murder by Bourne, the murder of the agents by Kirill, and the planted fingerprints at the scene. When Landy confronts Abbott, he kills himself, and Bourne sends the tape of the confession to Landy.

Bourne goes to Moscow to find Neski's daughter, where he is shot by Kirill. After an extended high-speed chase through Moscow, Bourne forces Kirill to crash -- killing him. Bourne proceeds to the apartment of Neski's daughter, where he informs her that her mother did not kill her father then commit suicide; Bourne had killed them both on a mission gone wrong. He apologizes and leaves. Gretkov is arrested by Landy, using the evidence she got from Bourne. Some time later, in New York, Landy receives a call from Bourne, where she expresses her thanks for the tape and states that they closed the case and are no longer looking for Bourne. The film then ends with Bourne fading into a New York City crowd to the tune of "Extreme Ways" by Moby.

Cast and crew

Main cast

• Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
• Joan Allen as Pamela "Pam" Landy: a CIA Deputy Director and Task Force Chief, pursues Bourne after her operation goes badly
• Brian Cox as Ward Abbott: a CIA Deputy Director formerly in charge of Treadstone, is actually in league with Gretkov for stolen CIA money
• Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons: formerly Bourne's Treadstone contact, is taken from her post-Treadstone assignment to assist in the search for Bourne
• Karl Urban as Kirill: a Russian secret service agent and an expert assassin who is working for Gretkov as a favor to Abbott
• Karel Roden as Gretkov: Kirill's employer, collaborating with Abbott for stolen CIA money
• Franka Potente as Marie Helena Kreutz: Bourne's girlfriend.
• Gabriel Mann as Danny Zorn: formerly assigned to Treadstone headquarters, is now on Abbott's staff

Minor roles

• Tomas Arana as Martin "Marty" Marshall, CIA Director
• Tom Gallop as Tom Cronin, Landy's righthand agent
• Michelle Monaghan as Kim, Landy's number two agent
• Oksana Akinshina as Irina Neski, the murdered politician Neski's daughter
• Marton Csokas as Jarda, the last surviving member of the original Treadstone

Crew

• Directed by Paul Greengrass
• Written by Robert Ludlum
• Produced by Doug Liman
• Screenplay by Tony Gilroy and Brian Helgeland (uncredited)
• Music by John Powell
• Cinematography by Oliver Wood
• Special Effects by Industrial Light and Magic

Reaction

The Bourne Supremacy grossed $288,500,217.^[1] Reviews on internet critic sites suggest an overall positive disposition towards the film, though the film was criticized for its shaky hand-held camera work, which has made various action scenes difficult to see.^[3], an often criticized stylistic choice which carries on to The Bourne Ultimatum ^[4]. Despite these shortcomings, Rotten Tomatoes scores the film at 82%.^[5] At the 2005 Taurus World Stunt Awards, Veteran Russian Stunt coordinator Viktor Ivanov won the "Best Vehicle" award for his driving in the Moscow car chase scene. Dan Bradley, the film's Second Unit Director won the overall award for Stunt Coordinator. ^[6]

The DVD contains an alternate ending for the film. It has Bourne collapsing in the Moscow park after confessing to Neski's daughter, waking in a hospital, and being told his real name by Landy, before he escapes.

Awards

Soundtrack

Main article: The Bourne Supremacy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

References

External links

• Official site
• The Bourne Supremacy at the Internet Movie Database
• The Bourne Supremacy at Rotten Tomatoes

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