Review of The Bourne Identity (2002) by Luke E — 22 Aug 2016

The first Jason Bourne film was the most quintessential action spy thriller at the of the noughties. It's scope, technicality and characterization was unprecedented, what starts off as a mystery of an American discovered at sea with only a few clues to spare eventually turns into the plot of a spy assassin on the run from those who trained him. Matt Damon became the unexpected action hero at the time, able to pull off daring stunts taking out enemies clean and easily, as were his ability to plan strategically through many situaltions,.

All this making him the truly compelling character from Robert Ludlum's books on one of the most revered action movie franchises of the modern age. This film directed by Doug Liman may be the more genuinely character oriented films the franchise has developed, it's main plot about the character's recent history, motivation, recent relationship with supporting character, as was him discovering his identity is a little small scaled then usual, though the compelling aspect with the character and the CIA operative working behind the scenes became the most concentrated narrative strands than just the inciting incident and the character's backstory subplot. Overall it still holds up today, still a worthy introduction to a unique character and film series.