Matt Damon Rocks! (I CANNOT BELIEVE I AM SAYING THIS)

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2003)

`The Bourne Identity' is a superb spy film. Gritty, realistic, suspenseful and surprisingly action-packed. `Bourne' is the kind of spy movie a Bond movie should be, but never is, at least in its entirety. Nearly as convoluted as `Spy Game,' (another great spy film) `Bourne' surpasses it, managing to remain both coherent AND interesting throughout. Lushly photographed,terrifically photographed and choreographed, superbly acted and beautifully scored, `Bourne' is a BIG success, in no small part, to Matt Damon. Damon is incredibly convincing as an emotional automaton, who one minute oozes schoolboy looks and personal humanity, while in the next effortlessly kills or disables scores of adversaries. During one such dispatching, Damon utilizes the most incredible stunt I've ever seen, and makes us believe he could do it.
The only improvement I could see could have been made to `Bourne' would be a little more explanation regarding the `Treadstone' programming. What little explanation is provided gets lost in the action and suspense. Otherwise, this movie is darn near perfect.
I can hardly wait to see Damon reprise this role. I just wonder what producers Kennedy/Marshall and director Doug Liman could do to match, much less top this.
I hope IMDB members who read my review enjoy this movie as much as I did.