Nice Thriller

Rating: Null/10 (9 July 2012)

The Bourne Identity (2002)
*** (out of 4)
Nice thriller has a man (Matt Damon) being pulled from the ocean with two gunshot wounds to the back as well as suffering from amnesia. Over the course of time his memory slowly starts to come back but he's dodging countless assassins sent to kill him. Wth the help of a woman (Franka Potente) he tries to figure out his true identity. THE BOURNE IDENTITY didn't completely win me over but there's no question that it's a well crafted thriller that makes perfect use of its star. I think it's easy to see Damon in this role because he can not only handle the action scenes but he can also perfectly work through the more dramatic moments of the story. There are several scenes where the character pretty much cracks from not being able to remember who he is and Damon managed to make these scenes seem very real. Another major plus is that he's just so good in the action scenes. I'm not sure how many people knew Damon would be able to pull this off but the transition to an action star worked. It took me a while to warm up to Potente. She's certainly got a different look and style than you'd normally see in a movie like this and that's one thing I did enjoy. Once the story picked up and her character got more involved I thought the actress managed to come out of her shell. The supporting cast includes a nice turn by Chris Cooper who is also dependable. I think one of the film's biggest pluses was the beautiful location shooting. There's footage from across the world and it really helped add to the story. Add in some nice action scenes and a pretty good, if easy to follow story and you're left with an entertaining, anti-James Bond film.