An imperfect but enjoyable and refreshingly old-fashioned thriller in a CGI bloated summer

Rating: Null/10 (23 August 2004)

Having been under for several years, Jason Bourne is brought to the surface by an attempt on his life by an assassin and the fact that the CIA come after him when he is placed at the scene of the murder of a CIA agent in the field. Innocent but just wishing to be left alone, Bourne comes out of hiding  seeking to bring down his former bosses and clear his name. All the time however, events are complicated by his memory coming back about his violent, deadly past.
Empire magazine called it  they said in their feature on this film that the Bourne Identity sneaked out and calmly and efficient went about its business. In the same way Supremacy came out in the UK with seemingly none of the hype and massive marketing that preceded films such as Spiderman 2, Catwoman and others. Without the same exposure to this hype I came to the film looking for nothing more than a good film  I didn't see it as an event in the same way as other blockbusters. The film has a quick set up with Jason having dreams before launching into a twisted mission that starts a pace that never lets up until the film's wonderfully low key conclusion. The plot is very thin  frighteningly thin in fact. I have not read the book but I cannot imagine, given the thickness of that tomb that much of the source has made it to the screen. This is a bit of a problem for me because the film comes across as a bit superficial and, although I was taken by the potential darkness of the material, most of it was simply used to provide edgy action as opposed to thought. This changes in the odd scene but generally it is about the action.
And this is not a complaint that I am making with too much effort because, personally, I found the film to be great fun and it was the action that covered the problems in the material. The pace is good, never dipping by accident and generally keeping me either interested or right on the edge of my seat. The basic plot allows this (it doesn't need too many introspective moments) but it is also greatly helped by the direction. Greengrass uses the same hand-held camera style that was so very effective in Bloody Sunday and gets a similar result here. At times it makes the action hard to follow but it also serves to increase the energy in the scenes and make them feel more urgent and a lot more brutal. Some will be put off by the way it jutters around but it has been done well in everything from NYPD Blue to 24 and Greengrass uses it well here too. The film's washed out colours and use of darkness (or under use of light) also helps make the film feel edgy and moody more than a summer blockbuster deserves to be.
The action scenes are the film's selling point and they act as somewhat of a beacon in a summer that has been full of CGI event movies  even if some of them have been good CGI event movies! Here the fact that the actors are not on wires or the fact that the action scenes do not just exist on a PC only help make the action scenes feel a lot more dramatic and urgent  of course they are not any more 'real' than some of Catwoman's antics but it is a refreshing change to really believe what you are seeing. There is little fancy spectacle but, like Bourne himself, the film is brutal and efficient even if it is unshowy.
Damon himself is a big part of it and, in Jason, he has found a role that allows him to act with only a tortured look at the same time as he is able to use his body. The fact that his character is an unknown makes his performance easier and, in this sequel, it is good that they make him a more difficult character (even if they don't expand him that much); I hope they round this off in the third and final film. It may not be a difficult performance to give but Damon still does well and holds the attention well with a character that has been rightly described as the anti-bond. Stiles has a small role yet again, but at least it makes more sense now why she bothered with the role in the first place. Cox is his usual gruff self and the only downside of his presence is that, after such films as X2, we have come to expect him to be a shady, conspiratorial military/Government type and nothing more. Allen is also good and makes more of a balanced character than Cox and is better for it  it'll be interesting to see if she is used well in the third film or if she is made too complex. It is a credit to Damon though that he emerges the star even with the other names involved.
Overall this is an imperfect film with a surprisingly thin plot that is not really as dark and edgy as it would like to think it is. However it has a great pace, good direction, tough scenes, great (non-CGI) action, energy and these all combine to cover up these weaknesses and deliver a solid, old fashioned thriller that is not an 'event' in the same way that other summer films are but is perhaps a better film for standing out from the crowd in this regard.