The Bourne Supremacy

Ludlum's second novel in the Bourne series, The Bourne Supremacy, is different enough from the original to make it a good read. However, the plot is a little cumbersome with all its political angles. And unlike the first, there is no mystery to unravel - the reader is privy to all angles of the story.

The movie adaptation is once again lacking. It felt to me like one continuous chase scene. Bourne escapes, then does something stupid and his trail is picked up once again. Bourne (played by Matt Damon) would never do 'something stupid' in the novel. And where is the chameleon? Not only does Damon not change his appearance, he doesn't even think to change his clothes. Marie (played by a different actress than in the first movie!) dies within the first 15 minutes of the film, and once again we do not get to see her ingenuity on-screen. In the novel her adventures receive as much attention as Jason's. Perhaps we are supposed to see Nikky (a character invented for the movie) as a strong female role, but she is reduced to a snivelling cry-baby after just 5 minutes with Bourne.

The storyline (what storyline there is) is completely altered in the movie, down to the country locale. Jason continues to attempt to redeem himself, but it still irks me that he was an assassin, rather than an agent on an undercover mission.

Perhaps the one redeeming quality in this movie is that the asshole trying to destroy Jason has the decency to kill himself