I want Bourne in a body bag by sundown!

Rating: 7/10 (7 October 2012)

The Bourne Identity is directed by Doug Liman and adapted to screenplay by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron from the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name. It stars Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Brian Cox and Julia Stiles. Music is scored by John Powell and cinematography by Oliver Wood.
A man is rescued from drowning by a fishing trawler, he doesn't know who he is and he has bullets embedded in his torso. He must recover his past soon because he has enemies, and they are closing in on him.
Prior to viewing for the first time it helps to arm your self with the knowledge that the source novel is an intelligent suspense thriller, not a balls to the wall action filled door stopper. Viewing The Bourne Identity now you can see it's very much about introducing the character, laying the foundations for what will become a series of films. Director Liman is in no hurry to tell his story either, I'm still bemused about the reviews that came out upon the film's release that proclaimed it as a high energy action movie and that it is briskly paced! It's a good film, one which doesn't lack for visual smartness, contains a couple of "classic" sequences and introduced us to a new action character, but really the narrative is very routine and lacks zip. While the ending is an anti climax and rather threadbare in terms of solutions and reward for having sat through nearly two hours of movie.
Not the brave new dawn of action spy thrillers you may have heard it is, but the cast engage well, the script is mature and there's just enough carrot dangled to entice you further into the sequel filled nosebag. 7/10