Bourne Supremacy, The

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

A conventionally heightened series of escapes and clashes and hide-and-seek gambits, yet the way the film has been made, nothing that happens seems inevitable -- which is to say, anything seems possible. There's a word for that sensation. It's called excitement.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

This is high-speed action realism carried off with the dexterity of a magician pulling a hundred rabbits out of a hat in one graceful gesture. The crowning flourish is an extended car chase through the streets and tunnels of Moscow that ranks as one of the three or four most exciting demolition derbies ever filmed.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Spy movies just got thrilling again.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

Rarely does pop come with such sizzle.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

As a piece of craft, and with the exception of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," it's miles beyond any studio film this summer.

Slate David Edelstein

The sequel is simply a tour-de-force of thriller filmmaking.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Greengrass has a fine sense of pacing, keeping events moving. It's rarely hard to guess what's going to happen next, but events unfold with such gusto that there's barely time to notice that.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Taut, tightly paced and thrilling, with some of the best chase sequences -- whether by foot, taxi or Jeep -- in recent memory.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Close to perfect example of an expertly designed and executed thriller.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Trumping its predecessor with a tauter plot, a lower body count and just as many edge-of-the-seat jolts.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

If you've forgotten the kick you get from watching a globe-trotting, butt-kicking, whiplash-paced action movie done with humor, style and smarts, take a ride with The Bourne Supremacy.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Delivers the expected adrenaline-driven thrills with a fresh eye and a refreshing attitude.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Goes through its airport-thriller paces with dazzling kinetics and style.

Chicago Reader Staff (Not credited)

The action sequences are expert studies in controlled chaos.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

Plot matters more here than spectacle; the film's real climax involves no demolition, but rather two characters in a room quietly discussing devastating events in their past.

Empire Chris Hewitt

The Bourne Supremacy builds on and exceeds the original, delivering, quite simply, one of the finest big-budget thrillers in years.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

Solid summer entertainment set in a recognizably real world.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

The way Greengrass lets you feel the violence is impressive. Most movie heroes punch through armies without scraping their knuckles, but Bourne's a believable wreck by midpoint.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

The strapping Damon's lived-in performance makes us happy to follow Bourne wherever he may go.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

That the director, Paul Greengrass, treats the material with gravity and uses good actors in well-written supporting roles elevates the movie above its genre, but not quite out of it.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Leah McLaren

Directed by Paul Greengrass, the unflinching eye behind "Bloody Sunday," The Bourne Supremacy not only lives up to the promises of the novel by Robert Ludlum, but in many ways manages to improve on the first film.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Achieves an assaultive intensity that adds a level of visceral excitement to car chases, mano-a-mano showdowns -- even simple conversations. It's a style that takes some getting used to -- the images flit by at near-subliminal speeds -- but proves tremendously effective.

Variety Todd McCarthy

The action is confusing at first and the hyperventilated editing style at times goes beyond the pale, so pic ultimately emerges as an erratic but not unworthy sequel to its gritty, genre-invigorating predecessor.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Supremacy certainly works on its own terms, but those terms are limiting. It's an entertainment machine about a killing machine.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Supremacy is, minor quibbles aside, a worthy successor to “The Bourne Identity.”

Film Threat Rick Kisonak

Over all, though, the picture fires on all pistons. The globetrotting's a good time-I can't think of another spy film that's featured as delightful an assortment of seamy international undersides.

The New Yorker David Denby

Putting it mildly, this style of shallow, panting composition isn't the way I’d like movies to go, but, of its kind, The Bourne Supremacy is incredibly skilled--much more exciting than its predecessor.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

All herky-jerky camera movements and no pussyfooting around with the interior lives of these characters.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

A serviceable thriller - no more, no less.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Supremacy has thrills, but without Potente's presence, it loses its soul.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

The loss of the first film's hurtling who-am-I? story engine is keenly felt, and too much time is spent observing the characters get on and off planes, trains, and automobiles.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

Like its various post-Cold War European locations, the film remains chilly and distant. Every time you feel like you're finally grabbing hold of something involving, the picture once again spins frustratingly out of reach.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

A refreshing alternative to the hypertrophied spy thrillers in which exaggerated action sequences, over-the-top super-villainy and high-tech gadgetry trump character and plot.

LA Weekly Joe Donnelly

In Supremacy, Damon is left to play basically one droning, humorless note, which, unfortunately, he does with his eyes closed.

Premiere Aaron Hillis

What’s missing here is the amnesiac hook that made "The Bourne Identity" such a sleeper hit.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The movie is mostly a series of frenetic clashes, dubious near misses and car chases. It lacks the human interest and snowy splendor of the first movie, directed by Doug Liman.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Almost everything that made "The Bourne Identity" refreshing -- the wit, the irony, the suspense, the novelty of its premise -- is gone in The Bourne Supremacy, and what's left is the spectacle of Matt Damon, with perfect posture and senses primed like a cat, making his way through a routine action thriller.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

This time it's just chasing, fistfighting, and shooting. A disappointment from the director of "Bloody Sunday."

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

I had some trouble with the plot, but I'm not the only one -- so did the screenwriter.