The Bourne Supremacy (film)

The Bourne Supremacy is a 2004 American action-thriller film featuring Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne character. Although it takes the name of the second Bourne novel (1986), its plot is entirely different. The film was directed by Paul Greengrass from a screenplay by Tony Gilroy. The second installment in the Bourne film series after The Bourne Identity (2002), it stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, a former CIA assassin suffering from psychogenic amnesia.

In the film, Bourne is attempting to learn more of his past as he is once more enveloped in a conspiracy involving the CIA and Operation Treadstone. Actors Franka Potente, Brian Cox, Gabriel Mann, and Julia Stiles reprise their roles as Marie Kreutz, Ward Abbott, Danny Zorn and Nicky Parsons, respectively. Karl Urban and Joan Allen join the cast as Kirill and Pamela Landy, respectively.

The Bourne Supremacy premiered at the ArcLight Hollywood on July 15, 2004, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 23, by Universal Pictures It received positive reviews and was a commercial success, grossing $290 million on a $75 million budget. The film was followed by The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), The Bourne Legacy (2012), and Jason Bourne (2016).

Plot

Jason Bourne and Marie Kreutz are living in Goa, India. He is still suffering from amnesia, so he records flashbacks about his life as a CIA assassin in a notebook.

In Berlin, a CIA agent working for Deputy Director Pamela Landy is paying $3 million to an unnamed Russian source for the Neski files, documents on the theft of $20 million seven years prior. The deal is interrupted by Kirill, a Russian Federal Security Service agent who works for oligarch Yuri Gretkov. He kills the agent and source, steals the files and money, and plants fingerprints framing Bourne for the attack.

After finding Bourne's fingerprint, Landy asks Section Chief Ward Abbott about Operation Treadstone, the defunct CIA program to which Bourne belonged. She tells Abbott that the CIA agent who stole the $20 million was named in the Neski files. Some years ago, Russian politician Vladimir Neski was about to identify the thief when he was killed by his wife in a suspected murder-suicide in Berlin. Landy believes that Bourne and Treadstone's late supervisor, Alexander Conklin, were involved and that Bourne killed the Neskis.

Gretkov directs Kirill to Goa to kill Bourne, who flees with Marie; Kirill follows and kills her, unaware that they switched seats in the midst of the chase. Bourne leaves Goa and travels to Naples, where he allows himself to be identified by security. He subdues a Diplomatic Security agent and a Carabinieri guard and copies the SIM card from his cell phone. From the subsequent phone call, he learns about Landy and the frame job.

Bourne goes to Munich to visit Jarda, the only other remaining Treadstone operative. Jarda informs him Treadstone was shut down after Conklin's death, then attacks him; Bourne strangles him to death, before destroying his home in a gas explosion as agents move in.

Bourne follows Landy and Abbott to Berlin as they meet former Treadstone support technician Nicky Parsons to question her about Bourne. Bourne believes the CIA is hunting him again and calls Landy from a nearby roof. He demands a meet-up with Nicky and indicates to Landy that he can see her in the office.

Bourne kidnaps Nicky in Alexanderplatz and learns from her that Abbott had been Conklin's boss. He releases her after she reveals she knows nothing about the mission. Bourne then visits the hotel where the killing took place and recalls more of his mission: he killed Neski on Conklin's orders, and when Neski's wife showed up, he shot her and made it look like a murder-suicide.

Danny Zorn, Conklin's former assistant, finds inconsistencies in the report of Bourne's involvement with the death of the agent and explains his theory to Abbott. Abbott then kills Zorn to prevent him from informing Landy. Bourne breaks into Abbott's hotel room and records a conversation between him and Gretkov that incriminates them in the theft of the $20 million. When confronted, Abbott admits to Bourne that he stole the money, ordered Kirill to retrieve the files, and had Bourne framed before arranging for him to be silenced in Goa.

Abbott expects Bourne to kill him, but Bourne refuses, saying Marie would not want him to, and puts a gun on the table and leaves. Landy confronts Abbott about her suspicions and he kills himself; later, she finds an envelope containing the tape of Abbott's conversations with Gretkov and Bourne in her hotel room.

Bourne travels to Moscow to find Neski's daughter, Irena. Kirill, tasked once again by Gretkov with killing Bourne, finds and wounds him. Bourne flees in a stolen taxi and Kirill chases him. Bourne forces Kirill's vehicle into a concrete divider, and leaves behind a seriously wounded Kirill, as Gretkov is arrested with Landy watching in the background. Bourne locates Irena and confesses to murdering her parents, apologizing to her as he leaves.

Later in New York City, Bourne calls Landy. She thanks him for the tape, reveals his original name, David Webb, and his date and place of birth, and asks him to meet her. Bourne, who is watching her from a building tells her she looks tired and to get some rest, as he disappears into the city.

Cast

In addition, Oksana Akinshina appears as Irena Neski.

Production

The producers replaced Doug Liman, who directed The Bourne Identity. This was mainly due to the difficulties Liman had with the studio when making the first film, and their unwillingness to work with him again. British director Paul Greengrass was selected to direct the film after the producers saw Bloody Sunday (2002), Greengrass' depiction of the Bloody Sunday shootings in Northern Ireland, at Gilroy's suggestion. Producer Patrick Crowley liked Greengrass' "sense of the camera as [a] participatory viewer", a visual style Crowley thought would work well for The Bourne Supremacy. The film was shot in reverse order of its settings: some portions of the car chase and the film's ending were shot in Moscow, then most of the rest of the film was shot in and around Berlin, and the opening scenes in Goa, India were filmed last.

Initially, the film ended with Bourne collapsing after meeting the Neskis' daughter and later having a conversation with Landy in a hospital room. Two weeks before the film was to premiere, Greengrass and Damon devised an alternate ending—the phone conversation in New York between Landy and Bourne—and the producers agreed to shoot it. The film tested better with the new ending and it was included in the final release.

The special visual effects were produced by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).

Release

Home media

The film was released on VHS and DVD by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on December 7, 2004.

Reception

Box office

The Bourne Supremacy grossed $176.2million domestically (United States and Canada) and $114.4million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $290.6million, against a budget of $75million. Released Jul 23, 2004, it opened at No. 1 and spent eight of its first nine weeks in the Top 10 at the domestic box office.

Critical response

Template:RT prose Template:MC film Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing that it "treats the material with gravity and uses good actors in well-written supporting roles [that] elevates the movie above its genre, but not quite out of it."

Accolades

At the 2005 Taurus World Stunt Awards, veteran Russian stunt coordinator Viktor Ivanov and Scottish stunt driver Gillie McKenzie won the "Best Vehicle" award for their driving in the Moscow car chase scene. Dan Bradley, the film's second unit director won the overall award for stunt coordinator. The film ranks 454th on Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.

Year	Organization	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2005	ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards	ASCAP Award	Top Box Office Films	John Powell	Won
	Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA	Saturn Award	Best Actor	Matt Damon	Nominated
	Broadcast Film Critics Association	Critics Choice Award	Best Popular Movie		Nominated
	Cinema Audio Society Awards	C.A.S. Award	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures		Nominated
	Edgar Allan Poe Awards	Edgar	Best Motion Picture Screenplay		Nominated
	Empire Awards, UK	Empire Award	Best Actor	Matt Damon and Best Film	Won
			Best British Director of the Year	Paul Greengrass	Nominated
	London Critics Circle Film Awards	ALFS Award	Best British Director		Nominated
			Scene of the Year	The Moscow Car Chase Sequence	Nominated
	MTV Movie Award	MTV Movie Award	Best Action Sequence	The Moscow Car Chase	Nominated
			Best Male Performance	Matt Damon	Nominated
	Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA	Golden Reel Award	Best Sound Editing in Domestic Features – Dialogue & ADR and Best Sound Editing in Domestic Features - Sound Effects and Foley		Nominated
	People's Choice Awards, USA	People's Choice Award	Favorite Movie Drama		Nominated
	Teen Choice Award	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie Actor: Action	Matt Damon	Nominated
			Choice Movie: Action		Nominated
	USC Scripter Award	USC Scripter Award		Tony Gilroy (Screenwriter) and Robert Ludlum (Author)	Nominated
	World Soundtrack Award	World Soundtrack Award	Best Original Soundtrack of the Year — John Powell and Soundtrack Composer of the Year — John Powell		Nominated
	World Stunt Awards	Taurus Award	Best Stunt Coordinator or 2nd Unit Director	Dan Bradley	Won
			Best Work with a Vehicle	Viktor Ivanov, Gillie McKenzie	Won
			Best Fight	Darrin Prescott and Chris O'Hara	Nominated

External links

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