A Pleasant Surprise.

Rating: 9/10 (23 January 2003)

I have a mode of judging movies before they open in theaters. If a movie enjoys a massively huge media-blitz weeks before the premiere, that movie either is ridiculously stupid or can't survive on its quality. Take, for example, the failed "Solaris." I remember seeing commercials on television five and six weeks before the movie premiered. And the movie tanked.
My point is that Universal did a similar media blitz for "The Bourne Identity," and I immediately dismissed it as another box-office flop waiting to happen. But from chatter with friends, the movie seemed to be better than I was led to believe.
I decided to wait until the DVD came out, since most theaters in Seattle lack DTS audio.
With it's fresh take on a familiar story line (very similar to "The Long Kiss Goodnight," among others), this movie combines a witty script and camera choreography that left me leaning toward my screen. Credit must be handed to Matt Damon, who plays Jason Bourne, a man who wakes up not knowing where or who he is. But when facing trouble, his instinct releases military training superceding that of even special ops commandos.
The DTS audio, providing clear and crisp audio for even the background effects, the vibrant music, mixed perfectly with amazing action sequences, edited with amazing precision, caused me to be thoroughly impressed with the quality of this movie.
I still hold to my method of judging which movies I'll watch in my local crummy theatre, but sometimes there's a pleasant surprise mixed in with the rest. 9/10