Yar, you be here: The Bourne Identity (Explosive Extended Edition) > Customer Reviews

The Bourne Identity (Explosive Extended Edition) Customer Reviews (37 - 39 of 51 Reviews)

Crowd Pleaser
This fast moving thriller serves up beautiful European scenery in Zurich and Paris and points in between. My companion complained of it being too visually "dark," (the sun never shines), but I felt mid-winter dreariness in Europe was at least no worse than say Michigan at the same time of year.

Matt Damon is amnesiac, Jason Bourne, who was left for dead floating in the sea with two bullets in his back, was saved by some good hearted fishermen. The audience (but not Jason) quickly learns he is an assassin for a mysterious government agency code named "Treadstone," and he has failed to accomplish a mission. Jason is marked for assassination by the agency to protect its existence. The chase is on! He finds he has a Swiss safety deposit account with a sheaf of passports and millions of dollars in various currencies. He meets a penniless girl, Marie (Franke Potente) who with a certain amount of ambivalence, agrees to drive him to Paris for $20,000. Jason is in the classic "you can run, but you can't hide" situation.

The film keeps up a fast pace with a wonderful car chase and has a "startle" scene beyond compare. (Jason and Marie are taking a quiet breather in a safe apartment when an assassin crashes through a large window almost on top of them. I think I self-levitated about three feet out of my seat!). Ms. Potente is a delight as Marie; quirky, funny, highly nervous interspersed with deep resigned calm. Her presence brightened every scene. Matt Damon is miscast as a trained assassin. He comes off as an All American Boy too young for the role. There are loose ends that are never satisfactorily explained or even commented upon. (Why discard a warm jacket only to shiver through the next five scenes? Why not replace the bright red bank bag that stands out like a signboard while running around Zurich?) The biggest problem with the film is the only one who is mystified is Jason Bourne. The audience knows exactly who he is and who is chasing him from the beginning of the film. The manner in which he failed his mission seems unlikely and falls flat.

If expectations are not too high, I recommend this as a good summer film. It doesn't have pretensions of grandeur and can be enjoyed for exactly what it is.

Jason's not paranoid, he's just in a tough spot.
I'll be honest, I haven't read the Robert Ludlum novel, nor do I remember seeing the original film staring Richard Chamberlain and Jaclyn Smith. So I'm not able to point out differences or inconsistencies, if indeed there are any. Having said that, I can't imagine its predecessor's topping Doug Liman's version of "The Bourne Identity." This is the sort of film I like to watch pretty often and each time I find something new to enjoy.

The plot, while nothing very original, provides a useful framework around which we get to enjoy some of the most believable action sequences I've seen. Let's face it, an assassin suffering from amnesia is not going to lead a dull life, particularly not after his "friends" decide he's gone rogue. There's only so many ways you can film stunts and action sequences like a car chase but Liman has managed to somehow make the many action scenes seem fresh. I particularly liked seeing what looked like a mini-minor out driving the police using skill and good planing, rather than a high-powered engine or death-defying jumps.

Most of the movie follows Jason Bourne, (Matt Damon), as he tries to reclaim his life and survive to see each new day. In this way, the audience is allowed to discover the pieces of the puzzle along with him. On the way he forms an unequal partnership with Marie Kreutz, (Franka Potente). It is good to see a female lead portrayed without either weakness or an unrealistic macho streak. Hopefully, this film will launch Franka's Hollywood career because she has more than earned her stripes in German cinema.

Jason and Marie inevitably bond but despite not taking a major part of the narrative, I felt their stop-start romance suited the film. Perhaps a woman with no home makes a good match for a man with no past. I also liked the several times the couple tried to split up, to get Marie out of Bourne's troubles but I especially liked the realism when they finally managed to part. The plot really doesn't need her but it seems Liman used Marie as a means of reminding Bourne that there is more to life than survival.

To some it would be nice to wake up one day and discover you were a sort of superman; able to speak half a dozen languages, had tens of thousands in a Swiss bank account and could out-fight Bruce Lee. His boss said it best when he described Jason as a $30,000,000 weapon. But more than advanced skills, Jason was gifted with intelligence and the experience of years of spy craft, even if he couldn't remember it. The thoughtful approach taken to achieve each objective, even on the spur of the moment, made the film almost educational. Hey, read a map before running from the police, use distraction and decoys to sidetrack you opponent, use the resources around you and think laterally. It's all good stuff for budding spies.

While Matt Damon played the part with little emotion, deliberately I assume, some of the smaller roles were outstanding. Each seemed to wring so much depth from so few minutes of screen time that I felt like watching a spin-off movie for each of them. Probably the most affecting was the performance of Clive Owen, a fellow assassin who dies describing his constant headaches and bitter loneliness. Also of note is Julia Stiles, the overworked safe-house administrator; she exudes competence while com­plaining of limited resources. All of these perform­ance gems must be a credit to Liman's direction.

It would be easy to dismiss "The Bourne Identity" as just another action flick. The action was great, but the true heart of the film was Jason's odyssey to reclaim his soul from the depths of a CIA black-ops hell. He used to be an amoral machine, doing his job without questioning the rightness of his work, just like the rest of them. But amnesia gave him the chance to step back from the abyss and evaluate his fate, eventually choosing to tear a new path into the future. The moral? Perhaps it's that "freedom" is more important than "patriotism."

Bourne Indentity
I am very glad my husband dragged me to see this movie. Although I never would have thought Matt Damon could play an action hero, he does, and a very good one. His character, Jason Bourne, really knows how to take someone down, fast. The European sets and slightly dimmer lighting lend an authentic touch to the movie, making it seem more real. You just want rest for the two protagonists, but they are being hunted mercilessly. How they seek to evade capture while developing their relationship keeps you on the edge of your seat. There is not much time to breathe between the action scenes, and they are great. Fighting and car chases are all so suspenseful you can't breathe.

Previous Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Next Page