Sequels

There are two schools of thought on sequels. Some insist that a sequel be strong enough to stand on it's own. In other words, you shouldn't be required to know anything about the first one to watch the second one. (or third, or fourth, etc.) Others believe that the sanctity of the sequel is upheld by the continuation factor, i.e. the movies' flow into each other and carry over plot points and character history.

The Bourne Supremacy plays into the latter dicotomy and truly picks up where the first, Bourne Identity, leaves off. As a movie fan, I like the idea of making the sequel for "fans" only. If you didn't see the first one, I imagine you will be lost as hell and not sure what is going on the entire film. Good for me, not so good for this movie finding a larger audience than the first. Matt Damon is a decent action star. I buy him as Jason Bourne more than I do Ben Affleck as Daredevil. And although the action is less violent in this sequel, I'd still recommend it. I have a beef with the handling of Franke Potente's character and wasn't real keen on Joan Allen's by the numbers performance, but Bryan Cox always plays a really good asshole.