A continuation of the Robert Ludlum series, 2004’s The Bourne Supremacy picks up just about where 2002’s Bourne Identity left off. Amnesiac CIA black ops agent Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and his girlfriend Marie (Franke Potente) are on the run, hiding out in India.

For the past two years, they focused on attempts to force Jason’s memory to the surface. The search has been frustrating; they’ve found pieces but have no idea what any of them mean when they’re put together.

When Jason spots a stranger on the beach who doesn’t fit in, Bourne and Marie quickly take off, trying to escape, but not before the stranger can make an attempt on their lives. As Jason and Marie flee, a bullet meant for Bourne strikes Marie in the driver’s seat, sending their jeep off a bridge and into the water. Jason slips free, only to find that the sole person he trusts and cares about is now dead, another casualty his life leaves behind.

Left with little choice and motivated by cold, calculated anger, Bourne gathers his things and decides that it’s time to figure out who he is, and what his pursuers want from him. The quickest way to get access to the people with the answers: get caught.

In the hands of a lesser actor, Bourne might have come off as the corny superhero type (think Punisher). Damon textures his performance with a dimension unrivalled in the action genre. He really understands the character, and plays him with intelligence, ice cold decisiveness and emotional conflicts, all in a simmering brood of anger and betrayal.

This entire depth of character is on full display in one of the film’s best scenes, the sequence near the World Clock, as Bourne abducts Nicky (Julia Stiles). Bourne might be the hero of this story, but Damon and Greengrass never let us forget that inside, he’s a killer.

It isn’t an action movie without action, obviously, and Supremacy has it in spades. The pacing reminds me a little bit of Raiders of the Lost Ark, with a rollercoaster structure: tense set-up followed by high speed action.

The signature piece in Supremacy comes from the impossibly cool car chase that careens through the overpacked streets of a European metropolis. Greengrass’s camera is right in the passenger seat with Bourne, giving the viewer a far more visceral experience than a run-of-the-mill chase scene. This sequence alone is worth the price of admission. There’s plenty of fighting, running, and escaping in the film, but none of it is quite as cool as the Moscow car chase.

As much as I enjoyed Supremacy, it’s definitely not beyond all reproach. Part of what works for the movie can also work against it: Greengrass’s valiant design to make this movie feel different than other espionage films. For the most part he succeeds, by imbruing the film with an ad-hoc, documentary feel through the extensive use of hand held cameras.

In the scenes where we watch the action from afar, I think this works best. In fight sequences, though, it’s far too close for the audience to appreciate the action. It gets muddled and frantic, which is the desired affect, but I’d rather see the whole thing.

After a while, this hand-held technique starts to feel a little gimmicky, which undermines its effect. I also feel like the writers try to stuff two books into one movie. It feels like a secondary story line gets wrapped up far too quickly.

Still, these complaints remain minor. Most of the film works really well and creates a thrilling experience.

The Bourne Supremacy appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie offered a strong presentation.

Sharpness looked solid. Occasional out of focus shots occurred due to the film’s loose handheld style, but the majority of the film offered positive delineation. No issues with jaggies or shimmering took place, and edge haloes were absent. Print flaws failed to materialize.

Supremacy opted for a palette that heavily emphasized greens. Some blues and yellows also appeared, but that heavy green tint carried the day. This was an ugly choice but the Blu-ray reproduced the hues appropriately. Blacks looked deep but could be a bit thick at times, which meant slightly reduced shadow detail. Those minor issues aside, this was a good image.

Even better, the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack offered an immersive affair. With lots of action on display, all the channels received a lot of room to impress, and it took advantage of those. The front and rear speakers added a great deal of information that placed us in the settings and involved us in the story.

Audio quality satisfied. Music was bold and full, while speech sounded concise and accurate. Effects showed good range and packed a strong punch in louder moments. All of this added up to a terrific action movie soundtrack.

Normally I’d compare the Blu-ray to the original DVD here. However, I didn’t review the DVD – Brian Ludovico did that – so I never saw it. I’d have to believe the Blu-ray offers clear visual and auditory improvements over the DVD, though.

The Blu-ray duplicates the DVD’s extras and adds new materials as well. First we get an audio commentary from director Paul Greengrass. He offers a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, sets and locations, cast and performances, music, editing, stunts and locations, and effects.

Though Greengrass touches on the expected subjects, he does so without much substance. Instead, the director mainly narrates the movie and praises those involved. The commentary drags and doesn’t tell us a lot of good information.

Five Explosive Deleted Scenes run a total of 10 minutes, 46 seconds. I’m not sure why they’re called “explosive,” though, considering one of them is called “Bourne Writing in Book.” The only one I really thought could have stayed in was “Shack.” The rest seem decent but not memorable.

Next comes the five-minute, 23-second Matching Identities: Casting. It features Greengrass, producers Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley, and actors Matt Damon, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles, Brian Cox, Gabriel Mann and Karl Urban. They cover the casting of supporting roles. The results seem fairly superficial.

A four-minute, 58-second featurette, Keeping it Real includes notes from Damon, Marshall, Greengrass. Crowley, Urban, camera operator Klemens Becker, and actor Franke Potente. Mainly the featurette highlights the selection of Paul Greengrass as a director, and the visual style he brings to the picture. Like the prior piece, this one delivers decent details but can be fluffy.

With the four-minute Blowing Things Up, we hear from Crowley, Greengrass, Damon, 2nd unit director/stunt coordinator Dan Bradley, and special effects foreman James Bomalick. The show mainly looks at the technical challenges of blowing up the Treadstone agent’s German house without the assistance of computer generated imagery. Despite its brevity, “Up” offers a decent examination of the subject matter.

The onslaught of featurettes continues with On the Move with Jason Bourne. This four-minute, 46-second show involves Crowley, Marshall, Greengrass, Cox, Damon, Allen, Bomalick, Stiles and Bradley. “Move” looks at the exotic locations used in filming, from Berlin to India to Moscow, and the challenges inherent at each location. It becomes another watchable but thin piece.

Bourne to be Wild fills four minutes, 21 seconds with info from Greengrass, Marshall, Damon, and fight choreographer Jeff Imada. The clip examines the fight between Bourne and the last remaining Treadstone member. Expect a moderately informative featurette.

More facts about stunts and visuals appear in the five-minute, 58-second Crash Cam: Racing Through the Streets of Moscow. It involves Greengrass, Crowley, Marshall, Bradley, Damon, Bomalick, Urban, and picture vehicle coordinator Graham Kelly. The reel reveals a lot of the secrets to filming the climactic chase scene. Like its predecessors, it offers decent material.

Speaking of the car chase scenes, The Go Mobile Revs up the Action fills six minutes, 49 seconds with details from Marshall, Damon, Bradley, Go stunts Scott Rogers, stunt coordinator Darrin Prescott, Go-Mobile driver Kevin Scott, and Go-Mobile fabricator Rick Cresse. We learn of the use of the “Go-Mobile” and its impact on the production. “Revs” offers one of the better featurettes.

Anatomy of a Scene: Explosive Bridge Chase Scene takes up four minutes, 41 seconds and presents details from Greengrass, Damon, Bradley and Crowley. It offers a few details about the sequence in question. It throws out a few good notes but lacks substance.

As expected, the four-minute, 46-second Scoring with John Powell focuses on the work of composer John Powell. He discusses his score for the film. Nothing great appears, but Powell delivers reasonable insight.

The next two programs continue efforts from the Bourne Identity Blu-ray. We get The Bourne Mastermind (Part 2) (4:42) and The Bourne Diagnosis (Part 2) (5:39). In “Mastermind”, we hear from author Robert Ludlum, Ludlum Estate executor Jeffrey Weiner, book editor Richard Marek, actor/Ludlum friend James Karen, and agent Henry Morrison. We learn a little about Ludlum’s work, but mostly the piece praises the author. It’s forgettable.

As for “Diagnosis”, it features Marshall, Greengrass, Damon, Potente, and therapist Miriam Davis. Like “Part 1”, this one looks at Bourne’s mental issues. Don’t expect more than superficial thoughts.

Exclusive to the Blu-ray, U-Control breaks into three options. “Bourne Dossier” gives us basics about locations, characters and other “Treadstone” elements, while “Bourne Orientation” offers more background for topics along the same lines. Both seem decent but not especially valuable.

Finally, “Picture-in-Picture” offers storyboards, behind the scenes footage, and interviews. We hear from Marshall, Greengrass, Damon, Davis, Potente, Allen, Crowley, Urban, Bradley, Cox, Mann, Stiles, Imada, and actor John Bedford Lloyd. The comments relate to character/story areas, cast and performances, Greengrass’s approach to the material, sets/locations, cinematography, stunts/action, and effects. An alternate ending also appears over the end credits, but it’s the same clip already seen under “Deleted Scenes”.

On the positive side, the PiP track comes with no dead spaces. That’s unusual, as most of these programs sputter out along the way and create frustrations for the viewer. This one packs footage from beginning to end.

On the negative side, the quality of the material seems erratic. While we get a good look at technical elements, too much of the PiP does little more than reiterate character/story elements we already know. There’s still enough fresh info to make the PiP worth a look, though.

As a film, The Bourne Supremacy is a superb thriller, even if it’s a shade shy of living up to its predecessor. The film injects the espionage thriller genre with a fresh, original concept. The Blu-ray boasts very good picture and audio as well as an informative collection of bonus materials. This becomes a well-realized Blu-ray.

To rate this film, visit the DVD review of THE BOURNE SUPREMACY