"The Bourne Supremacy"

Title: "The Bourne Supremacy"
Director: Paul Greengrass
Producers: F. Marhsall, P. Crowley, and P.L. Sandberg
Editing: C. Rouse and R. Pearson
Composer: John Powell
Starring:
- Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
- Karl Urban as Kirill
- Franka Potente as Marie Helena Kreutz
- Brian Cox as Ward Abbott
- Joan Allen as Pamela Landy
- Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons

Plot and Critical Review: Jason B

ourne and his girlfriend Marie have been living incognito in India for the past two years where Bourne struggles to recall the specifics of his first mission as a black ops agent. In Berlin, CIA Deputy Director Landy runs a "buy operation", spending $3 million to purchase evidence exposing the mole within the agency that stole $20 million in allocation money seven years prior. Before Landy's operative can complete the transaction, Russian agent Kirill infiltrates the building, plants a fingerprint to frame Bourne, kills Landy's operative and the seller of the information and makes off with the evidence and the $3 million. Kirill reports back to Russian oil magnate Yuri Gretkov, who sends him to India to finish the job by assassinating Bourne. Bourne spots Kirill and flees with Marie. Kirill gives chase and shoots at the vehicle to kill Bourne but kills Marie instead. Kirill leaves, believing Bourne to be dead, but Bourne survives and departs for Naples.

Landy follows the planted fingerprint lead and gains security clearance to sift through the CIA archives to investigate "Operation Treadstone," an elite squad of assassins into which Bourne was enlisted. She stumbles upon evidence implicating Alexander Conklin, the late former director of the operation, leading her to question Conklin's boss, Deputy Director Ward Abbott, who admits only to vague details. Landy gives a report to her supervisor, Operations Director Martin Marshall, advising that some years back, Russian politician Vladimir Neski acquired proof of the identity of the thief who stole the $20 million. When Neski threatened to make the information public he was killed by his wife in an apparent murder-suicide in a Berlin hotel. Landy suspects Bourne and Conklin were responsible and the meeting is interrupted when a report comes in advising that Bourne has just been detained in Naples. Marshall orders Abbott and Landy to apprehend him.

Meanwhile, in Naples, Bourne incapacitates the consulate field officer interrogating him, copies the SIM card from his cell phone, and learns of Landy and her suspicions when he monitors a subsequent phone call. Bourne then heads to Munich to interrogate the only other living former Treadstone operative, Jarda, who informs him the program was shut down after Conklin's death. Jarda attacks Bourne, but Bourne over powers Jarda and strangles him. In Amsterdam, Landy and Abbott question former Treadstone support technician Nicky Parsons and bring her along with them to Berlin. Believing that Landy ordered the hit in Goa, Bourne surveys her team's on-site headquarters from a nearby building. He calls Landy and arranges to meet Nicky at the Alexanderplatz, where he abducts her. Nicky tells Bourne that Abbott was the true mastermind of Treadstone, not Conklin.

Bourne visits the location of his first mission in Berlin and gains full recollection that he killed Neski and his wife on Conklin's orders and made it appear a murder-suicide. Abbott kills his assistant Danny Zorn when he begins to uncover the truth of the conspiracy. Bourne breaks into Abbott's hotel room and records an incriminating conversation between Abbott and Gretkov in which they discuss their roles in the theft of the $20 million. Holding Abbott at gunpoint, Bourne records him confessing to ordering the hit in India, Neski's murder, and the murders of the agents in Landy's buy operation to cover up the theft. Bourne refuses to kill Abbott out of respect for Marie's values. Bourne then leaves with the tape and shortly thereafter, when confronted by Landy, Abbott commits suicide. Bourne sends the tape of the confession to Landy.

Bourne travels to Moscow to find Irena Neski, Vladimir's orphaned daughter. Kirill tracks Bourne down and shoots him in the shoulder and the two engage in a high-speed car chase which ends with Kirill seriously injured after Bourne smashes his vehicle into a cement divider. Bourne then meets with Irena and confesses the truth of her parents’ deaths and apologizes. Landy uses the tape of Abbott's confession to have Gretkov arrested and later receives a phone call from Bourne. She expresses her gratitude for the tape and tells Bourne his real name is David Webb and he was born 4/15/71. Bourne tells her she looks tired, indicating he's currently watching her, then hangs up and disappears into the crowded streets of New York City.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Content to Caution:

V-3 - The amount of violence, in general, is toned down from the first film.
L-2.5 - The amount of cursing is also toned down, but it still persists.
DU-1 - Some drinking.
RT-0 - No comment.
H/S-2.5 - No comment.
CH-1 - No comment.
S/N-1 - No comment.

The "Reel Revelation": "Remembering The Truth - Part 2"

In a recent vocal rehearsal a young woman asked me, "Why did you choose me to fill this role?" I was surprised she'd ask me such a question given how well she was singing and acclimating to the music. Unsure of the best way to respond, I simply said, "I knew you'd be the best for it." She didn't seem satisfied, although I think my reply gave her some comfort. Have you ever felt the same way when God calls you to do something, when He chooses you for a special task? If so, you're not alone.

If there's ever been a person who hasn't wondered why they've been placed on the Earth, I certainly don't know who they are. The same goes in searching for a person who hasn't questioned God's call on their life. We're in good company when it comes to that sort of pondering:

- Moses tried to explain to God that he wasn't much of a public speaker (Exodus 3:10-4:13).

- In the midst of his sufferings, Job cursed the day that he was born! (Job 3:1-4)

- Jeremiah protested God's call because he was a young man and not suited to become a prophet (Jeremiah 1:4-8).

- Jesus humbly prayed for God to "remove the cup" of His suffering (Luke 22:39-44).

God calls, we listen, we accept (or deny) His call, and still we ask ourselves, "What am I here for?"

We are not unlike Jason Bourne; trying to unravel twisted pieces of information and hints of the truth shrouded in clouds of confusion. But it is not God's confusion that sets us spinning; it is our own sinful nature, so often inclined to wander away from God, that brings us to our knees and causes our hearts to yearn for a reminder of why we even exist. Please note that this "wandering" happens during any season of life, not only during the storms and traversing of spiritual deserts.

Have you ever heard a person say, "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do with my life"? Most of us would probably choose to know and understand our mission over not knowing at all what God wanted us to do. And yet we all end up in those frustrating seasons of life when it seems like our wheels are spinning, that we're not fulfilling God's will. If you get to that point, take a couple steps backward, step back into the Word, and remind yourself of these truths:

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..." (Jeremiah 1:5a) - God knows you!

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit..." (John 15:16a) - Jesus chose you!

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (Col. 3:12-14) - This is your call!

Everything after those three points will fall into place through prayer, devotion to Christ, and daily surrender to God's will. That's the sort of stuff an online devotional can't help you with, for it all must happen between your heart and the heart of Christ. But do not allow yourself to be discouraged. The next time you even think of asking "Why am I here?", remember those three simple truths, and encourage yourself in the Lord:

- God knows you through and through.

- Jesus chose you for His own purpose.

- Live for, forgive, and love others as God does surely live for, forgive, and love you.

See you tomorrow - E.T.