Simple plot, excellent realisation.

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2002)

This movie surprised me in two ways. Firstly, that the action sequences (on the whole) were realistic and not overdone. Secondly, that Matt Damon handled the role so very well. I had no trouble believing in his character.
It follows a standard "assassin loses his memory then tries to work out what is going on" plot, but trundles along quite nicely.
My only gripe is with one of the final scenes in the film, where Damon's character is fighting off a group of killers sent to take care of him. SPOILER. In one scene he grabs a body and jumps over the side of some stairs, then falls about six or seven flights, landing on the body, using it to cushion his impact and then staggers away, unharmed. I'm not sure about that one.
But the action works well enough (even that scene) due to Damon's absolute, no-nonsense approach to the scenes. There are no glib witticisms. No one-liners. Reminded me a little of action scenes involving Steven Seagal (who, let's face it, can't act, but knows how to fight).
Anyway, worth a watch to see what combat sequences should really be like. But Die Another Day fans will be sadly disappointed.