Viewed – 19 July 2016  Blu-ray

I don’t know why, as someone who enjoyed the first movie in this franchise, I didn’t get around to seeing this sequel until the other day.  Matt Damon is once again hard-as-nails CIA assassin Jason Bourne who lives a life of leisure with his girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente) until he gets set up for the theft of some top secret files.  Soon his former employees are out to get him as he struggles to stay one step ahead and unmask the real culprit.

Taking over directing duties this time from Doug Liman is Paul Greengrass, who despite lacking some of the subtlety and finesse of Liman has made a tighter, albeit rapidly edited but more exciting movie.  Support comes in the shape of Joan Allen as a CIA chief out to apprehend Bourne and Brian Cox also returns as Bourne’s former boss.   I felt the stakes seemed a lot higher this time and although the finer details on certain plot threads connecting certain sequences seemed to get muddled as the action kicked in (including possibly one of the best car chases I’ve seen) … I was still gripped from beginning to end.

Unlike the last movie, there’s nobody to really touch Damon’s performance that is once again complex, emotional and bad-ass.  Allen seems particularly under-developed.  A superior sequel in the adrenaline stakes then, which suffers a couple of coherence issues.  Yet as it stands, this remains a thrilling follow-up that left this viewer thirsty for more.

The Blu-ray is very pleasing.  The image looks great (a little dark but a clear step up from Identity) and the audio packs a hefty punch and is clear and atmospheric.  The extras are again plentiful with several featurettes, behind the scenes footage, interviews and an invaluable commentary from the director.  A great treatment to what is possibly the most underrated movie in the series.

Verdict:

(the movie)  4 /5

(the Blu-ray)  5 /5