Review of The Bourne Identity (2002) by Ryan R — 04 Jan 2013

There must be something I missed with this one, but it didn't inspire me as much as it did other people. Everything about it was distinctly average in my view. It was good but it could have been a lot better.

There were bursts of quick fire action and combat but nothing truly memorable. I also enjoyed the storyline and the slow unravelling of just who Jason Bourne was, but it didn't come as too much of a surprise that he was the assassin assigned to kill the African politician in the first instance.

It was no better than a regular James Bond movie really, probably a bit worse in fact. It reminded me of the film 'Paycheck' in the sense that the concept revolved around the slow recovery of a mans memory loss and small leads gradually pave the way to the truth being uncovered about the individuals history.

With 'Paycheck' though, I found it a more clever link of ideas using the inventory found in his personal belongings, and not as predictable as this one. It would be interesting to see how it compares to the book, but guven I don't read, i'll have to ask someone else on that front.

I also think it's the first time I've actually seen a Matt Damon film and despite him being ridiculed in Team America, he's not as bad as some have him portrayed. The acting was good all round I thought, including the never before heard of female lead.

All in all, despite the somewhat reserved opinion of this film, it was still enjoyable and I will want to see how the story deepens in the sequels - onwards and upwards (I hope)!