As good as it could be

Rating: 5/10 (20 February 2011)

I wanted to like this movie. The acting was good enough; the execution was fine; the direction was good, in that it kept the surprise ending hidden well. But I just could not escape the frustration of how obviously this movie mirrored The Bourne Identity. Spoiler alert...
1. A man awakens after a trauma with partial and fractured memories. 2. He later learns that he has previously been an assassin (right down to finding multiple passports with his photo and various aliases). 3. He is now somehow a better person and does not want to kill his target. 4. He has a young, attractive female sidekick to help him along and believes in his redemption. 5. He is targeted by his former employer because he represents a risk to them. 6. He kills them all and escapes with his new girlfriend.
Seriously, I think Robert Ludlum's estate has a case for plagiarism here. Before the full plot was revealed towards the end, I was enjoying the film. I simply cannot get over the unbelievable parallels. I know that there are small copies and imitations throughout all art and that complete originality is rare. This just crossed the line to an extreme I had not seen for some time.