The Good & Bad Of ''The Bourne Identity'

Rating: 9/10 (31 January 2007)

This is a solid suspense-spy film with an agent-on-the-run scenario. People who like a paranoid theme, where everyone is after you (I plead guilty) will love this.
THE GOOD - The amount of violence in here was just about right, not too much and not too little. I also enjoyed the Paris scenery, both the street-level shots and the aerial photography. Ovrall, the cinematography is very good in this film. It's an involving story that once you're hooked, you stay that way. The two hours go by pretty quickly. The cast is interesting. I was familiar with Franke Potente after seeing her in "Run Lola Run." Potente has a different, and intriguing look to her. The action scenes in here are very good, including an excellent car chase.
THE BAD - I get tired of American filmmakers trashing their own government all the time, in here its them trying to kill one of their own agents. Also, there are too many usages of the Lord's name in vain, mainly said by Chris Cooper's character. It also took a bit to accept Matt Damon as some physically-rough spy since his image was not that prior to this film.
OVERALL - A good movie that is part of my collection. I liked the sequel even better, although part of the reason was that I was now familiar with the main characters after watching this film. Anyway, I highly recommend both movies for fans of suspense, crime, intrigue, good locales, etc.