Would you make him angry?

Matt Damon returns as Robert Ludlum's amnesiac assassin, who is still attempting to rediscover his true identity while being assailed by the CIA on one side and Russians on the other

Sep 18 2004

The Bourne Identity (2001) was an original take on the staid Hollywood thriller genre, restoring a grit and realism when other films preferred CGI and gadgets. Here director Doug Liman moves over into an executive producer, with Briton Paul Greengrass taking the reins. It's an inspired choice, as the man responsible for 2002's Bloody Sunday brings a similar edginess to proceedings, maintaining the style and distinction of the burgeoning franchise (there's one further Ludlum book in the cycle to adapt, 'The Bourne Ultimatum').

The story picks up two years after where The Bourne Identity left off. Jason Bourne (Damon) is living with Marie (Potente), the woman whose life became entangled with his in the first film. However, their existence in Goa isn't exactly an idyll. Bourne is troubled by nightmares and fragmented memories, and fills notebooks with scribblings. He's desperate to find out "Who was I?", but on his own terms - outside the influence of the CIA.

Pursued by a Russian hitman (Urban) to Goa, Bourne flees to Europe where he tries to piece together fragments of memory he has of an apparent hit in a Berlin hotel. Travelling from Italy to Berlin, then on to Moscow, Bourne must contend with both the attentions of a CIA taskforce, headed up by Joan Allen's Pam Landy, and the Russians. Landy believes Bourne is responsible for killing operatives in Berlin - at the time when he was in India. The presence of the dubious Ward (Cox), further complicates the situation. What's the agenda of this former boss of Treadstone, the CIA's 'kill squad'?

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