Surprisingly engaging and fun to watch

Rating: 9/10 (6 February 2003)

This movie was a lot better than I was expecting. Somewhat of a cross between "Ronin" and "Die Another Day", it was an intriguing spy/action flick. Matt Damon comes across as a very good action hero (which remains to be seen with his buddy Ben Affleck in "Daredevil") and the action sequences and fight scenes are done very well. Most Hollywood action sequences are overblown and unbelievable (see "XXX"), but this movie's scenes were believable and fun to watch; and, more importantly, it did an excellent job of not allowing the action to upstage the plot. It easily ranks as one of my top 5 movies of 2002.