Action/Thriller-Jason Bourne was just fished out of the sea with bullet holes in his back by a fishing boat. After finding a bank code in his leg, he finds many passports under different names and a giant fortune. Little does he know that he's being hunted. Jason escapes with a woman, Marie Kreutz, who is taking him to Paris for $20,000. They, obviously, fall in love, but the US government is after him. Now Jason, and Marie, must run away while the government tries to stop him.
Rater #1
Has not seen it.
Rater #2
7/10-Spy thrillers can be either good or bad. When they're just mass
produced (see also: The Recruit), they becoming boring, no matter
how hard they try. The Bourne Identity is certainly not the elite in
spy movies, that's a fact, but it at least seems more sophisticated
than others. Loosely (thankfully) based on Robert Ludlum's
ridiculously absurd novel, it's what you'd expect from a summer
action movie, but it has a little more into it. Not enough to make
it a classic, but enough to make it worth your two hours.
Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) washes ashore with no memory of who he was
or how he got there. He realizes that he was a spy for the CIA, but
now for some reason the American government is trying to hunt him
down. He teams up with Marie (Franka Potente) and tries to figure
out who he is, why he's running, and how to defeat his pursuers.
Ludlum's novel was too long, too confusing, had too many characters,
and was just plain silly. Thank God the American public is stupid,
so the book would be dumbed down for the movie version. There's
little development on any character except Bourne (especially not on
anyone in the CIA-was that Julia Stiles?), the plot could use some
working on, and at times it seemed a little hard to believe. But
there's action to spare, and it's all pretty exciting. Damon isn't
really the make of an action hero, which works with his character,
since he's just supposed to blend in. I just hope this doesn't go to
his head and he starts thinking he should be the next Arnie.
The obligatory car chase scene was pretty cool, although there was
much product placement (BMW and Minis). It's all pretty standard,
but it's not subpar. The rest of the action scenes were pretty
intense and exciting, with the screen being used to its full
potential. On that note, let me give kudos to director Doug Liman.
His choice of shots worked very well, and it was obvious to see what
he was trying to achieve in each shot. Why he didn't sign on to
direct the sequel, I don't know. But The Bourne Identity is good
enough in its own right-what people want out of an action movie,
plus the addition of a pretty good character, Jason Bourne.
