The Bourne Identity (2003, DVD)

I'm rather ambivilant about action flicks, I could skip most of them. But I do like spy capers that have plenty of plot and intrigue. Since I do like Robert Ludlum's books, this one was appealing enough to make me give it a chance tonight.

The premise is interesting enough, a man is found floating in the Mediterraean sea with two bullet holes in him, and a rather curious device implanted in him. Rescued and fixed up a bit by the crew of a fishing vessel, he has no name, no memory of how he got there, and not a clue. Matt Damon plays our hero with a hunky, farmboy-fresh look that I had at odds with his character later.

The only clue he's got leads him to a bank vault in Zurich, where in best Bond style we have money in several currencies, a handful of passports, and weapons, and a name that might or might not be his -- Jason Bourne. It's here that we also discover that our hero has had previous military training as his self-defense skills are well honed and still pretty good despite his ordeals. With his only clue leading him onto Paris, he gets himself a car and driver, and the film quickly changes into a cat-and-mouse story.

The driver is Marie (Framka Potente), and the car is a chewed up little Cooper Mini in bright red. Soon enough we're in Paris, we're zipping up alleys and down staircases in that little car. There's also a trio of assassins with plenty of nasty weapons and no names that get to toss our hero around the room.

By the end, of course, we find the real villian -- Chris Cooper as a CIA boss that's too wigged out for his own good, a botched plot, and more story than what meets the eye. In this jaunt, the real star of the film are the stunts and action sequences, with plenty of martial arts, falling bodies (one bit had me snorting with disbelief) and a very fine ending that made the film worth watching. I'm not going to give the ending here, but it's a morally satisfying one, and worth the effort it took to sit through this one.

Director Doug Liman knows how to balance his film between action and introspection, and Damon handled his character with just enough sympathy to make you wonder how this boy got mixed up in the world of spooks and wet work. While there is plenty of violence in this one, it's kept to a minimum of gore shots, and despite the PG-13 rating, I think it would be best kept to the older teenage crowd, as the violence does get fairly intense.

Ludlum wrote the novel in the early eighties, and so, there's been a few changes in the story to accomidate the new times in the world, but on the whole, it's a pretty satisfying film. Quite a few dead bodies, cold-eyed assassins, several chase sequences, and a stunt bit off the side of a building that is not for those of you who are fearful of heights. The biggest drawback that I had with this one was the lighting -- everything seemed to be shot through a polarizing/grey filter that gave everything a pretty grungy look.

Definately see this one on DVD, as there are several bonus goodies there, including an alternate ending, deleted scenes, a 'making of' feature and audio commentary by the director. There is also an alternate French soundtrack and a music video by Moby of the song "Extreme Ways."

So grab some popcorn, suspend your disbelief for a while,and settle in for some fun on a Friday night.