"Bourne" Brings New Life to the Spy Genre

Rating: 9/10 (14 June 2002)

Having just seen the hideous "The Sum of All Fears," I went to see "The Bourne Identity" with great trepidation. Wonderful -- another cliched spy film designed to make one's eyes roll back into their skull because of utter disbelief and boredom.
How wrong I was.
Doug Liman should have been my tip-off. The indie auteur of films like "Swingers" and "Go" has always been original and never dull. And while eyebrows may be raised at the choice to have him helm a big-budget action film, don't worry: turns out he's the perfect choice to breathe some much-needed life into the increasingly stale spook genre.
Matt Damon (stoic, resolute, in a first-ever true action role) plays Jason Bourne...or does he? The man suffers from amnesia after being shot and nearly drowned in the Mediterranean. As events unfold, we learn that whoever he is, he has stashed an incredible amount of domestic and foreign currency in a Swiss bank. Along with numerous passports, all bearing his photo and different aliases. And, as it turns out, a gun.
Before you know it, things start to get weird -- he's being shot at, for one, and although he doesn't remember who he is, he seems to be awfully good at, for example scoping out a diner ("I can tell you that man at the counter is 215 lbs. and can take care of himself...how do I know all this?"), or taking out one, two, three men with guns in lickety-split speed.
As Damon slowly unravels the mystery of who he is, using skills he's not even really aware that he possesses, important plot points are also revealed, none of which will be told here. Suffice to say that the race is on, and Limon stages it handsomely. The action set pieces are thrilling precisely because of their full-throttle, no BS approach. For their brevity, they hit hard; no unnecessary pyrotechnics here, which makes them all the more engaging.
The supporting cast is also better than it has any right to be. "Run Lola Run"'s Franke Potente plays the girl who helps Damon, and she portrays just the right amount of bravery, fear, and uncertainty about the situation and the mysterious guy she's tagging along with. The reliable Chris Cooper is Damon's nemesis at the CIA, and his hang-dog look is just right for the worn-out, life-long agent who knows that his job and life are at stake in the cat-and-mouse game he's playing.
"The Bourne Identity" is fun, smart, and is the coolest action film so far this year.