Refreshing, thrilling, and one hell of an entertainment

Rating: 9/10 (30 January 2003)

Ludlum would be proud. I expected a gun blazing no thought hardcore fast paced action zone, and I was wrong. This is not new grounds. Big shot with martial arts and weapons training loses his memory, and the people on both sides rush after him in a 'dead or alive' frenzy. Nobody to trust, nowhere to run, nothing to help bring back the past... seen it dozens of times, memorable ones being the hit flick 'The Long Kiss Goodnight', and Jackie Chan's version in 'Who am I?'.
But there is something refreshingly new about this movie. The acting's great, direction is cool, and vfx is not unnecessarily flaunted. All I can think of saying is that I thoroughly enjoyed it. And the storyline is brilliant. What more could you ask for? The movie IS fast paced, but kind of slower than I expected. I'm not complaining, mind you! I loved the movie. It's just that I expected more. But there is a fantastic surge of excitement throughout the movie. I definitely recommend it, both for the casual movie goer, and for Ludlum fans, even if the plot is very different from that in the book. The characters were handled smoothly. A sense of realism surrounds the entire movie, except for a part in the central theme, which I cannot discuss without revealing the climax. Not that it contains much of a suspense.
Jason Bourne is one character I'll remember for a while. The way he is represented... tormented bullet ridden castaway with one hell of an identity crisis, tortured at every step of revelation. He finds things about himself that he just can't live with, and even reaches a point where he doesn't want to know any more. The plot proceeds so casually and wonderfully, that you can't help but confess,"Well, yeah, I suppose that is the only step he can take." It's like you know that in the situation given, the only logical and reasonable step to take would be the one shown in the movie.
I give it two thumbs up. As soon as I stop typing, that is.