The Bourne Identity

The Movie Mob 10/21/2022 8:08:23PM 8.4

**The Bourne Identity returns the spy genre to hard-hitting realism with face-paced hand-to-hand combat, clever espionage, and a great lead.** In the early 2000s, when James Bond was surfing on laser-melted glaciers and fighting diamond-crusted henchmen and Ethan Hunt was dual-weird diving through a flock of doves, The Bourne Identity charted a new path. Doug Liman took Good Will Hunting’s Matt Damon, whose biggest action role to this point had been watching Tom Hanks die to save him in Saving Private Ryan and turn him into a hardcore action hero. But unlike Bond and Mission Impossible, Bourne was a grounded and gritty spy that used skill and ingenuity to overcome the duplicitous intelligence agencies that wanted him dead. The action is more realistic and brutal, with the punches landing harder and pens stabbing deep. The Bourne Identity reinvented the spy genre.

JPV852 6/23/2021 3:58:46PM 8.4

Lost count the number of times I've watched The Bourne Identity but it's still a fantastic action-thriller with Matt Damon perfectly cast in the lead which if I recall at the time he was only known for dramas. Some issues with how the sequels were handled, mainly (in TBU) the suggestion Bourne and Nicki (Julia Stiles) had some sort past relationship when it's pretty clear he was just another black ops agent. In any case, still works almost 20 years later and I'm sure I'll revisit this one again. **4.0/5**

Dr_Nostromo 1/3/2026 9:14:06PM 8.4

81/100 After being found floating in the ocean, with two bullet wounds, by a fishing boat, a man wakes up to find he has no memory or identity and his only possession is an account number in a Swiss bank. Arguably the best cat and mouse spy game ever put on film, Matt Damon IS Jason Bourne. I simply can't see anyone else playing this role. If you haven't seen it, I would greatly encourage it ...along with the sequels, which just get better. This is not a ride to be missed. -- DrNostromo.com