Exceptional - the best we'll get unless somebody picks up Adam Hall's "Quiller" novels

Rating: 9/10 (28 February 2005)

Most spy/action movies suck hard - this is probably the best one since "Marathon Man." Super sharp, super smart with absolutely breathless action, THE best car chase of all time and a pitch-perfect supporting cast; are there any working actors better than Joan Allen and Brian Cox?
I haven't seen "The Bourne Identity" but I feel as if I have, due to the extremely skillful use of flashbacks in this film. Greengrass' "put you right in the center of the explosion" approach is perfect for this material. Fabulous score, too. This is absolutely how the spy/action genre film should be done; what are the DePalma apologists who still think "Mission: Impossible" was a good movie going to do after seeing this?
I'm surprised the movie did good business, considering the general collapse of moviegoer intelligence over the past 30 years; you must pay attention or you will be left behind. It's worth expending a few brain cells on something this accomplished.
Extracting a movie this good from the labored, uninspired writing of Robert Ludlum is quite a feat. The same team of filmmakers could create a series of superthrillers, each one more intense than the last, by grabbing the "Quiller" series by the late Adam Hall (who also wrote "The Flight of the Phoenix" under another name). The Quiller books may be the most heart-pounding espionage novels ever written.