A great spy thriller - but the sequels are even better

Rating: 9/10 (12 December 2015)

Hollywood comes up trumps with this engaging spy thriller, based of course on the novel by Robert Ludlum. It's a film that serves to reinforce my belief that all Hollywood thrillers shot in France are top-notch, and it's a film that employs all the modern, stylised tricks of the camera to come up with a winning formula. The story is straightforward enough: an amnesic spy falls in love, suffers numerous assassination attempts and is on the run from the police, as he desperately tries to regain his memories. Matt Damon, taking the title role, gives an engaging and likable performance and in addition proves himself worthy as a lean but powerful man of action.
Speaking of action, the film acquits itself well with some stunning chase sequences – the hunt in the bank is amazing and finishes off with a nicely perilous high-rise scare-show; there's a car chase with a mini that just about equals the ones in RONIN, plus the various fight sequences all employ a super-fast sped-up martial arts style fighting that looks pretty cool to me. Watch out for the bit where a ballpoint pen becomes a lethal weapon, cringeworthy stuff. Technical qualities are excellent and to enhance things further, a great supporting cast all does their best. Franka Potente is attractive and feisty as Bourne's accomplice, Maria; Chris Cooper is excellent as the stressed-out CIA man on Damon's trail; Brian Cox delivers another of those catchy, powerful extended cameo performances, and finally Clive Owen steals his scenes as a tough hit-man, nicknamed The Professor.
THE BOURNE IDENTITY is about as good as you can get for a modern action thriller. The storyline is complex, but gradually revealed piece by piece so that it's relatively simple to follow. Although it lacks the scope and extended time-frame of other recent spy thrillers such as SPY GAME and THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, the low-key approach to the action works nicely and the gorgeous European locations make it look refreshingly different. Intelligent, pulse-pounding and packed with intrigue and excitement – a rare treat in these modern brain-dead blockbuster days of cinema.