THE BOURNE SUPREMACY

REVIEWED BY SHANNON H.

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: violence, brief language

Rated:

Okay, I admit I didn't see the first one, the reason being was that I simply wasn't interested. At first I didn't want to see this either because I favored The Village.  However, as my mother preferred this film instead, I decided to go see it. I'm glad I went.

Picking up where the first movie left off, CIA spy guy Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is enjoying "retirement" from the secret agent gig by moving to Goa, India with his girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente) and living a life secluded from the CIA. Meanwhile in Berlin, a CIA job goes awry and those responsible frame Bourne for the murder of two agents.  While picking up his girlfriend at an Indian marketplace, Bourne spots a Russian agent assassin looking to kill him.  After he is constantly being chased around the rural streets, the Russian spy agent manages to take a shot at Bourne and Marie and they jerk the steering wheel of their car, going off a bridge and into a lake.  Bourne makes it out alive but Marie dies from a gunshot wound by the spy agent.  Determined to get to the bottom of this, Bourne packs his bags and heads to Europe.

CIA employees Ward Abbott (Brian Cox) and Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) are hot on Bourne's heels as they alert intelligence agencies in Europe about Bourne's wanted status as an alleged assassin outside of his spy job.  Bourne must rely on his spy intelligence skills to stay alive and one step ahead of the Russian secret police.

There is little sexual content in the film.  The Russian secret agents are seen meeting at a dance club where women wear skimpy outfits and dance suggestively.  It is implied that Jason Bourne and his girlfriend Marie have been living together outside of marriage.  There are some cuss words and mild taking of the name of the Lord in vain. Most of the objective content comes from violence and intense themes.  There is a short chase in India where a Russian secret agent is on the heels of Jason Bourne.  Bourne is later pursued by the same agent in a high speed automobile chase through Moscow.  He engages in a fistfight with someone involved with the botched CIA job, as well as threatens the lives of those who know or don't know vital information (an example is that he points a gun to the head of CIA employee Nicky -- Julia Stiles -- while she cries in fright; he lets her go a few minutes later).  There are constant shootings and a few assassinations.

The film is great and there's a lot of action involved, however the excess violence is questionable. People are freely murdered and killed without being arrested since it's under the CIA's supervision. This might send a wrong message to kids under 10 who are watching the film.  What irks me is that we're watching other people being killed on the big screen and feeling entertained by it.  There isn't much of a moral to the story other than not to trick or deceive others. As I mentioned earlier, I really enjoyed The Borne Supremacy but watching Russian spies needlessly killing innocent people because they simply know too much bothered me. It was like watching the Italian mafia take out rival gangsters (this is why I refuse to watch The Godfather or The Sopranos). That's my main complaint. Discerning teens can forge through the misleading messages, but thirteen year olds have no business in the theatre seats.