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Today , Matt Damon is largely knownas a movie star . The Oscar achiever has had a long and quite prolific career , starring in lead and supporting roles likewise and receiving acclaim in multiple genre . From psychological thriller likeThe Talented Mr. Ripleyto sci - fi vehicles likeThe Martian , from sales pitch - black comedy likeThe Informer!to cheesy family flicks likeWe Bought a Zoo , Damon has truly done it all .
It was 2002’sThe Bourne Identitythat launched Damon as a potential action star , but the sequel ensured his legacy . More importantly , The Bourne Supremacychanged the game for the action genre as a whole , acting as a harbinger to the farinaceous , electrifying , raw action films that would predominate much of the late 2000s and early 2010s and paving the way for the over - the - top extravaganza we have today . On its 20th day of remembrance , let ’s look back atThe Bourne Supremacy , a film that changed its genre for good — and for the better .
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The Damon identity
In 2002 , Matt Damon was where every untested star would hump to be : stand in an loose field with multiple road ahead . In this heaven of chance , Damon had his choice of pretty much everything , from director to screenplay to atomic number 27 - star . Damon wisely cash in his post - Good Will Huntingcapital on building his credentials as a honored actor , meaning he chose to crop with boastful - name directors like Anthony Minghella , Steven Spielberg , and Steven Soderbergh . It did n’t count if the theatrical role were smaller — Damon famously had a special , but pivotal role inSaving Private Ryanand play second violin to Clooney and Pitt in theOcean’strilogy . However , he was build his résumé as a credible worker , which then allowed him to prosecute stardom .
This road is not one watch by many doer , mainly because not many have the chance to do so . Indeed , most attempt to become movie stars straightaway with one major dealership and struggle to make a name outside of it . For every Timothée Chalamet , who similarly built a résumé as an acclaimed , Oscar - put forward performer in prestige movie likeCall Me by Your NameandLittle Womenbefore jumping to heavy - budget vehicle liketheDuneduologyandthe punch-drunk musicalWonka , you have a Tom Holland , who ca n’t seem to escape the Spider - Man role . In more way of life than one , Damon was the Timothée Chalamet of the former ’ 90s . By 2002 , he was quick to graduate to movie stardom , and he find the right vehicle in Doug Liman’sThe Bourne Identity .
The 2002 movie star Damon as Jason Bourne , a valet abide from amnesia who must discover his mysterious past tense and link to the CIA . It was the perfect role for an thespian like Damon ; like Bourne himself , the audience , too , was stun at what the lineament was capable of . It was fresh and more than a bit shocking to see this formerly pretty boy catch fierce in fight sequences that were raw , straight , and far more elaborate than anything that came before . The Bourne Identitywas an unexpected hit , grossing$214 million worldwideagainst a $ 60 million budget . It was the perfect achiever story , allow for a subsequence that was openhanded , bolder , and better .
The Bourne Supremacycame out in 2004 and continues Bourne ’s story as he undertake to discover more of his connection to the deep Treadstone organization and how he fits into the big CIA conspiracy . Notably , Liman stepped down as a director , and was replaced by Paul Greengrass , with Tony Gilroy returning to compose the screenplay . Greengrass ’ arrival was crucial in turningBournefrom a coarse action tarradiddle into a riveting and anxiousness - induce account that combined element of legion other musical style , notably the political thriller and the psychological drama .
The Bourne Supremacytakes itself seriously , allowing audience to engage with it not only as a man - against - the - humankind story , but as a profoundly compelling journey of ego - discovery and realisation . This is where Damon ’s casting and Greengrass ’ guidance come into romp ; Damon had the acting chop to bring gravitas and self-respect to the story , while Greengrass was an up - and - occur managing director whose 2002 filmBloody Sundayearned him the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival . This combo proved to be efficient , granting the celluloid a sobering , somber approach path that stood in stark contrast to other films of the era .
The Bourne transformation
The Bourne Supremacycame out in the middle of a revolution for the activity genre . The ’ 90s gave us a series of delightfully demented action at law extravaganzas that border on caricature . Do n’t get me wrong ; I absolutely bonk clobber likeCon - Air , Air Force One , andThe Fifth Element — campy , giddy , fun activeness movies that made the ’ 90ssuch a striking meter at the movies . However , they are pretty great representations of how audience , and therefore Hollywood itself , thought of the action genre .
To most , action motion picture were loud , pontifical , overproduced , and out of this world , sometimes literally . Everything happening on the screen was distinctively detached from audiences — not an troy ounce of reality had room in these adventures , and no one was involve for it . Even Brian De Palma , who bestow some much - needed respectability to the genre with 1996’sMission : Impossible , embraced the exaggeration in sequences like the now - iconic conducting wire scene . As the ten went on , the concept became more demented : from unstoppable buses to confront transplants and oil color drillers in space , the activeness genre was lento becoming a sendup of itself .
It was in this landscape painting thatBournecame out . Sure , the concept of a highly trained , extremely skilled , dear - infallible spy and assassin might not be plausible per se . However , the plot is grounded in something relatable , framed as a journey of the self that just happen to include a mediocre Cupid’s disease of high - octane action . The action was also a stark departure from other picture ; inThe Bourne Supremacy , you could hear every punch , to the decimal point where you could almost feel them .
The fights are straight to the full stop , feeling like they ’re not even choreographed ; Bourne is n’t afraid to get down and dirty , often fighting more as a street criminal than a highly prepare broker . There ’s no music , either , with Greengrass instead using the surroundings to supply the sequence with rhythm , be it a ringing phone , the sounds of a crowded street , or the inactiveness of two bodies swinge at each other .
More importantly , Bourne is weak . Take his competitiveness against former Treadstone bravo Jarda ( Marton Csokas ) inThe Bourne Supremacy . Bourne allows himself to be distracted by a phone , of all things , leading to a brutal yet astonishingly clumsy brawl where he slowly adapts to the situation , but not before receiving a considerable whooping from the experient killer whale .
bourn can carry off anyone with pretty much everything — in this conflict , he excellently uses a mag as a arm — but he does n’t instantly acknowledge it ; it ’s all instinct , and only when he find himself in danger do his considerable acquirement amount out . And yet , Bourne is not relatable . At no point do you see yourself in his skid — how could you ? But he is signally likeable , allowing you to empathize with him , which is just as of import .
Crucially , The Bourne Supremacytakes the viewer directly into the action through frenetic , puzzling , and often downright nauseating editing and camerawork . The swing are tight - paced , much like the view of someone in the middle of a fight and with more than a few concussion . The hand-held photographic camera moves side to side — cinema verité by path of big - budget filmmaking . It ’s necessitate and might even become exhausting by the end , a prolonged chase that is as ambitious as it ’s rewarding .
Even the cinematography is strikingly somber . While previous action movies favor saturated images , The Bourne Supremacyuses a dull pallette , a distinctive imaginativeness that fits just as well in the snowy , desolate landscape painting of Russia as in the crowded , loud streets of India .
The Bourne effect
TheBournetrilogy represented a full transformation for the natural action literary genre , starting withThe Bourne Identityand perfected inThe Bourne Supremacy , thus paving the way for the best in the series , 2007’sThe Bourne Ultimatum . Whereas its harbinger but put up a hint of what was potential , The Bourne Supremacystood firmly on the strength of its lore and alone capableness . Like Bourne himself , Supremacyis the series come into its own and turn confident enough to really offer fulfil answers to a apparently ever - evolving mystery .
Think of every other action movie that dominated the business organization postSupremacy . Every film worth a damn , fromCasino Royaleandthe rebooted James Bond seriestoMission : unimaginable 3and even poppycock likeThe Dark Knight , can be traced back toThe Bourne Supremacy . Often imitated , yet rarely replicated , The Bourne Supremacyredefined what was expected from the action musical genre , transforming it for a raw generation and opening countless doors for next theater director to kick down . Indeed , every New activity filmmaker , from the Russo Brothers to Chad Stahelski , built their signature styles upon Greengrass ’ nonrational glide slope .
The well way to summarizeThe Bourne Supremacy‘s legacy might be establish inthe recent Roger Ebert ’s follow-up : “ That the manager , Paul Greengrass , treats the material with graveness and uses good actors in well - pen supporting part get up the movie above its genre , but not quite out of it . ” I ’m not sure Ebert meant this statement as a strength necessarily , but I conceive it ’s the pure description of the motion-picture show . The Bourne Supremacysees all the possible action of the activity music genre without being block by it .
It might be deeper , more developed , and emotional , but it is still very much an action mechanism movie . By adopt its nitty-gritty while still challenging its bound , surpass them in the process , The Bourne Supremacybecame a turn point in the action musical style , a intestine - punch of a picture show that ’s still effective 20 years later . That ’s one perdition of a legacy , Mr. Bourne .
The Bourne Supremacyis uncommitted torent or purchase on Amazonand other digital vendor .
