If I asked you to think about the genre of film involving
espionage, you might think of James Bond right off the bat. It's
understandable due to the fact that they've been making Bond movies
since the sixties I believe and it's easily the most popular spy
franchise in film. While that may be the case for most, I myself am a
little different. Why I think of spy movies, I think of a movie like The
Bourne Identity.
After waking up with bullet wounds in his back, a
man (Matt Damon) with no memory sets out to discover who he is and
where he's from. He eventually finds out that his name is Jason Bourne,
but several questions still remain. Even more questions arise once he
finds a gun, a bunch of money and multiple passports in a bank account
that's in his name. Bourne is eventually pursued by several people who
don't appear to have his best interest in mind and he comes to
understand that he can't trust anyone. He now must fight for survival in
order to answer the questions about himself and the deadly
circumstances that surround him.
The Bourne Identity was a bit
different for Matt Damon when it was shot. At the time, he was known for
doing dramas more than anything else. This film of course, is a spy
thriller that had all of the makings of a summer blockbuster. If he
wasn't a big enough star yet, he was about to be as he began to cross
into a well liked book franchise.
Obviously, he was careful about
selecting his first real action movie in which he was the lead actor,
because although this is a summer blockbuster type of film, it still
maintains a lot of substance. There's a well told story with good
acting, writing and directing from the people involved.
For anyone
who knows the story of Jason Bourne, you know that much of the film is
focused on his quest to find out who he is. While he's trying to figure
this out, we also get a look at the clandestine network that employs him
and what they're trying to do to fix all that is wrong with this
situation. This is one of the primary things that bring about the
dangerous predicament that we witness in The Bourne Identity. They don't
know what happened either, but they don't necessarily want answers,
they want results and a solution before it gets out of hand.
In
the scenes where Bourne is trying to find out who he is and why so many
people are after him, there's a good amount of action on display. The
action that we see is given to the viewer in various ways. We're given a
couple of chases sequences, some hand to hand combat and some shootouts
to top it all off.
Out of all that I just mentioned, it's hard to
say what the best aspect of the action is. I might go out on a limb and
say the hand to hand combat is my favorite, but I'd practically be
splitting hairs when it comes down to choosing. Regardless of what I
liked the best, all of it is well done and includes an amazing car chase
that runs through the streets of France.
To go along with the
fast-paced and action packed set pieces, one of the other things that I
liked about the movie comes from the realism that is implemented and the
fact that they felt that it was important enough to include. The Bourne
Identity uses some of the tactics and skills that are apparently used
by operatives in real life. Being the spy geek that I am, it's surely
something that I was happy to see. It's that attention to detail that
helps turn this into quite the movie experience.
As much credit as
I give them for paying attention to detail, I also feel the need to
point out one minor flaw where that attention went missing. It doesn't
really have anything to do with the film or its overall quality, but I
think it's funny and I look for it whenever I watch it. There's one
scene early on that shows Bourne disappearing into thin air at the exact
same time that a small truck drives by him, but you can actually see
Damon running along side the truck as it's going off-screen. Once again
it's no big deal, but I just wanted to point it out.
Anyway,
there's enough entertainment value in this suspenseful action thriller
set in the world of espionage. I think fans of the Jason Bourne novels
from the late Robert Ludlum will be satisfied, but I also believe people
who aren't familiar with the books can also get into it and enjoy it.
From a personal standpoint, it's one of my absolute favorite spy stories
and is a fantastic movie overall. If you want to watch a quick, smooth
and unglamorized movie about spies, The Bourne Identity is surely one to
look at.
Score: 4/5
Rating: PG-13
Director: Doug Liman
Cast:
Matt Damon
Franka Potente
Chris Cooper
Brian Cox
Julia Stiles
Clive Owen
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Gabriel Mann
Matt Damon
Franka Potente
Chris Cooper
Brian Cox
Julia Stiles
Clive Owen
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Gabriel Mann
Film Length: 118 minutes
Release Date: June 14, 2012
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jaskee_Hickman/1153505
No comments:
Post a Comment