Film review: Bourne Supremacy. Directed by Paul Greengrass, starring Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Brian Cox, Julia Stiles and Karl Urban. Dur. 102 mins Cert. PG.

Bourne Supremacy is adapted from the novel by Robert Ludlum, and is the follow-on from the brilliant Bourne Identity that did so well, somewhat unexpectedly in 2002.

The director has changed for this, but the scriptwriter and the star remain in place. What Bourne Supremacy and its predecessor did so well was to make a an intelligent and atmospheric film, without the glitz of most blockbusters.

Neither Damon nor his love interest, Franka Potente, star of Run Lola Run, are your normal pin-up stars, but both were believable as misfits who find each other.

In the Bourne Identity Jason Bourne's bullet-ridden body was found by fishermen and dragged on board.

They saved his life and put him ashore. He had no memory of who he was, or how he came to be there and how he learned his apparent skills for acts of violence. He learns, of course, that he is a trained assassin, and having survived an attack in which he was meant to die, he is now in grave danger. He then meets a drifter, Marie (Potente), and despite, or perhaps because of their troubles, they are drawn together.

But even when they escape, they are always looking over their shoulders for those who want Bourne and his secrets buried forever.

The sequel is a triumph, and again it's thanks to the work of its stars and, I think, to the intelligence of screenwriter Tony Gilroy.

Bourne (Damon) and Marie (Potente) have been living under assumed names in a sleepy seaside town as happily as they can under the constant threat of Bourne's past catching up with him. Bourne is a super-killer, of course, so his threat of severe retaliation should anyone come after him, is not one to be taken lightly. But then a CIA operation to purchase classified Russian documents is blown by a rival agent, who then shows up in the village and Bourne and Marie have to pack up and move on.

Bourne again has to use the skills he'd rather forget to kill in order to survive - and it's so exciting I could almost vomit!

The direction from Paul Greengrass is slick and just fast enough, while maintaining the European feel that makes this action movie so intriguing, while Damon and Potente are superbly real and superbly supported by Brian Cox, Julia Stiles, Karl Urban, Gabriel Mann, and Joan Allen. Serious excitement, and a serious contender for my favourite film of the year.