“The Bourne Supremacy” is the highly anticipated sequel to 2002’s successful “Bourne Identity.”

Both movies are based on novels by Robert Ludlum, although, this installment uses little more than the title. The movie focuses on the life of an ex-special agent, Jason Bourne.

Bourne, (Matt Damon), continues to suffer from amnesia he acquired during a botched assassination attempt. Bourne and his girlfriend, Marie (Franka Potente) are hiding out in India trying to elude those who wish to see him dead. Their hideout is discovered and he is forced to confront his past and fight to put an end to the attempts on his life.

The movie has many elements of the typical action flick: Long, impossible car chases; inept police; and characters you can tell are good or bad the moment they are introduced. It would be surprising and satisfying to, just once, have a beat cop catch the primary character but, alas, that can never occur in the world of movies.

I only had one major complaint about the movie. Many scenes used hand-held cameras unnecessarily, which created a confusing and dizzying effect. One reviewer, accurately and humorously called the movie the “Bourne Witch Project.”

However, I enjoyed the movie and thought Damon, once again, did a fine job as Jason Bourne. There were deeper characters than many other action movies and even an interesting scene where Bourne apologizes to the daughter of two of his earlier victims. Heroes are never supposed to apologize. Maybe there is hope for those beat cops after all.

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Mark Stansbury is an accountant and student who lives in Pendleton. He can be reached at Mark_Stansbury@hotmail.com.