The Bourne Supremacy, if anything, is an example of how to craft a sequel that is as consistently smart, action-packed and thrilling as the original film. Given the production issues of the first film, and the change of director for this sequel, Supremacy had a lot running against it, but with little-known director (at the time of release) Paul Greengrass at the helm, audiences are treated to a worthy continuation of Bourne's adventures.

Supremacy picks up two years after the events of the first film, where Bourne has seemingly successfully eluded the authorities and fallen off the grid with his girlfriend Marie (whom he met in the first film). However, Bourne is still plagued by his past, haunted by nightmares, and the voice of his former mentor. Bourne's peaceful retreat lasts for all of ten minutes in Supremacy before an assassin (played with might by Karl Urban) plants Bourne's fingerprints at a high-profile crime scene, and furthermore, comes to Bourne's doorstep to kill him. Bourne, the ever-observant intellectual that he is, declares "we got lazy", and soon enough, he is once again on the run.

A thrilling car chase soon follows, and makes clear what is to many one of the huge problems of Greengrass' entries into the Bourne canon - the "shaky cam". During the majority of the action scenes in Supremacy, the camera shakes all over the place, and whilst it does have a raw, gritty, cinema verite feel to it, it also is often disorientating and simply irritating to watch. It can be effective at times, but other times it's almost headache-inducing. This effect is near enough the only real weakness of this film that I can find.

Following a shocking, completely out-of-nowhere emotional kick-between-the-legs, Bourne is forced out of hiding and thrust back into action, with the hope of both vengeance and finding out more answers to his own identity, such as, for starters, what his real name is.

Meanwhile, it's not long before the CIA are on the case, and the slimy Ward Abbot (Brian Cox) returns as the ruthless operator of the Treadstone operation. It's this point at which we meet CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy (Joan Allen), who is determined to discover what project Treadstone is (causing Abbot to attempt to cover his tracks), and quite what Jason Bourne's up to (considering that at this point she believes him to be a murderer).

Whether Bourne is pursued, or even at one point, captured, he exhibits the smarts to avoid one scrape after another, and it appears that he hasn't lost a step. In fact, he (whether he realises it or not) manages to confuse the CIA to the point where they don't seem to be on the same page. Bourne is exhausted and haunted by his past, yet nevertheless soldiers on, relentlessly eluding and outsmarting the authorities at every turn.

Soon enough, Nikki, a minor character from the first film (played by Julia Stiles) is pulled back into the fray, and manages to provide an insight into Bourne's psychological state, as such serving as quite the useful commodity to Landy.

Remaining in line with the original film, the fight scenes are uniformly brutal, unpolished and authentic-looking. When Bourne battles the only remaining Treadstone agent left (other than himself), a man who is near-enough his equal, I would argue the case that it is one of the most realistic-looking fights committed to film.

Bourne eventually gets some room to breathe, and makes an attempt at getting some more answers, stalking the CIA, striking terror into their hearts as he appears, and promptly disappears with the tact of a ghost. Bourne, tired of running and hiding, eventually decides to meet with Nikki, in a wonderfully intense series of scenes that makes it clear that it is the performances that make Supremacy as thoroughly enjoyable as it is - Urban as the ruthless assassin, Allen the meticulous and unflappable deputy, Cox as the sly antagonist, and Bourne as the smart assassin whose anger and frustration is scarcely suppressed.

Naturally, the CIA sending Nikki was a mistake, as she is inexperienced in the field and easily intimidated by Bourne, allowing Bourne to gain more vital information and once again showing that he is smarter than his pursuers - he knew Nikki would be easy to shake down, and the CIA needed to send her if they had any chance at catching Bourne.

Meanwhile, Brian Cox's desperation is reaching a fever pitch, attempting to cover his own back and ensure that Bourne takes the rap for everything, even killing those close to himself to that effect.

A massive manhunt subsequently ensues, with the police en-masse out to catch Bourne. Following a wild pursuit, Bourne for the first time seems both exasperated and somewhat afraid, a refreshing little caveat that lets us know that Bourne is not Superman, just a smart man on the run 

Following perhaps the least-cliché phone call in film history (where, for once, after someone hangs up, the other person doesn't say "hello?" despite the line clearly being dead), Bourne is able to close the net on his aggressors, but his struggle is not yet over, as those baying for his blood at the outset return to finish the job. As Bourne is pursued through the dingy streets of Moscow, things begin to look a little bleak - wounded, and with both dangerous assassins and the authorities chasing him, he does the only thing he can do - run, and he does so at an incredibly frenetic pace, something which, no matter how many times Bourne does it, never seems to get old. In a memorable car-chase sequence, rather than the skill that got Bourne through the original film's vehicular pursuit, blind luck seems to be the order of the day here, ending with all of the different angles colliding in one spectacular, violent crash.

Supremacy gives us a glimpse into a more human, compassionate Bourne, and by the film's end, he tries to make amends for his past wrongdoings, a catharsis that is truly incredible to watch. As the credits roll, Bourne is given something of a reprieve, and once again, the ever-iconic "Extreme Ways" by Moby plays us out.

The Bourne Supremacy is a spectacular, adrenaline-fuelled, and consistent sequel that cements this series of films as having a place at the top of the spy-thriller canon. James Bond (2006's Casino Royale excluded) may have the gadgets and the ladies, but Bourne has the raw emotion, the gritty brutality, and best of all - the brains.