The Bourne Identity (2002) - Movie Review

I love this movie. I like the action, the drama, and the especially the chase scenes. Matt Damon does a phenomenal job bringing this character to life as only he can. Like so many other actors in so many other roles it isn't easy to imagine someone else in those roles.

I have listed favorite scenes in other movies, but not all movies I have reviewed. I have three scenes that I especially like.

The first scene I like is when Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and Marie (Franke Potente) leave Bourne's Paris apartment. They are cornered and Jason decides to run, but he is trying to get Marie to leave. Marie doesn't want to leave so Jason brings her along for the ride. And what a ride it is!

Jason drives an Austin Mini Cooper through the streets of Paris to escape the Paris Police. One of the best parts is when he drives the car down a set of stairs. He escapes the police and does so with flare. Can you imagine having a high speed car chase in a Mini Cooper? I think it is funny as hell.

The next best scene is when Jason confronts The Professor (Clive Owen), another agent like Bourne. He does this with flare as well. Bourne blows up a large propane tank to distract The Professor. Then Bourne runs into a field and is able to shoot and wound The Professor. After getting little information from him, Bourne watches as The Professor dies.

The last of my favorite scenes is after Bourne confronts Conklin (Chris Cooper), his former boss. Bourne hits Conklin and renders him unconscious, seconds later Bourne must fight his way out of the apartment building by killing four agents. One agent he kills by shooting through the forehead while falling through the air and landing on the body of one of the agents.

I do have some advice for those that want to read the books by Robert Ludlum or Eric Van Lustbader. Don't read the books thinking that you will be able to follow the movies. I have only ever read the first book. The only similarity between the first book and the first movie is as follows: the title, many of the character names, and Jason Bourne's amnesia. The rest of the book is completely different from the movie. I have to say that that was probably as it was supposed to be, since the book was released in 1980 and the movie came out 22 years later.

I give this movie 10 stars out of 10.