The Bourne Identity - Bourne, Jason Bourne

Ruthless killer is bourne again as a superhero, with just one dose of amnesia!

By Emma Kae - 9th October 2002 - Back to News

There are some mornings in life when you wake up but wish you hadn’t. For Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), waking up to being fished out of the Mediterranean Sea with two bullet holes in his back and an acute case of amnesia, the morning is just the beginning of the nightmare.

The Bourne Identity is directed by helmsman Doug Liman (Swingers, Go), and is based very loosely on the acclaimed novel by Robert Ludlum. It tells the story of a CIA assassin who loses his memory after a failed mission and tries to regain his sense of self, before the past can kill him. The past is Bourne’s ex-boss, Ted Conklin (Chris Cooper), who sees Bourne as a rogue loose end that has to be eliminated.

Interwoven into the shadow of the story is Bourne’s new-found accomplice, Marie Kreutz (Franka Potente of Run Lola Run) a German wanderer with 20,001 reasons for staying by his side. Her presence adds another dimension to the espionage thriller with a hint of romance… that is, until she throws up in a charmingly realistic manner and we wish Bourne had the guts to pick up Angelina Jolie instead.

There are some great scenes in this film, shootouts that make westerns look like the Milky Bar ad, an epic car chase that somehow resembles a sinister go-kart derby, and puts Spiderman to shame when the hero dangles from the edge of a tall building… The film is executed with genuine flair and gripping suspense.

On the downside, there are many aspects of the film that are so unrealistic that the action fan may wonder is they have wandered into a fantasy film. One cannot help but ask if Bourne is so amazingly brilliant, why dis he take forever to realize that he's a spy? Obviously a man with a handful of passports, millions in cash, a bank number implanted in his hip and the ability to can kill someone with his bare hands is not a car salesman.

The far fetched meter also soars when Bourne’s hitman, defeated in combat, cannot handle losing and so he throws himself out the window. Just when you think that it couldn’t possibly get any worse, Bourne uses a dead spy as a landing pad, falling from 5 stories up, and on his journey manages to shoot down a guy on the stairwell.

Linman assumes that we will not question the obvious - ruthless killer is bourne again as a superhero, with just one dose of amnesia!

Basically, the film is a nice way to spend an evening if you are in the mood for a little criminal activity, but cannot be bothered to think the plan through. Take a good mate to witness your wall-scaling attempts after the show.

3 stars.

Click here to see when Bourne Identity is playing at a cinema near you.

Click here to visit the official Bourne Identity website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com