This one misses the boat....

Rating: 3/10 (9 February 2003)

Having read the Ludlum novel only a few months ago, I was surprised when I rented the DVD and sat down to watch the Bourne Identity and realized this movie had little to nothing to do with the book. Too bad too. The story Ludlum tells was a good one. This movie, unfortunately, misses the boat entirely.
Matt Damon is too young to portray the main character and the absence of a credible female love interest means this story is relegated to primarily action scenes involving intricate car chases and some well choreographed martial arts scenes. But the reason for the story (in the book Carlos the Jackal reigns terror down on the world at large) eludes the viewer. The plot deviation from the book takes place relatively early on and from then on the viewer is left wondering what went wrong. If you never read the book then you wouldn't be missing anything, you might just feel the movie was a well planned action/spy drama.
I'm now tempted to go back and find the original 1988 TV drama with Richard Chamberlain and Jaclyn Smith, perhaps that will fill the void that the 2002 version created in it's radical departure from Ludlum's novel.