The Bourne Identity

For much of his early career, Matt Damon was known for playing broody and troubled young men in movies like Good Will Hunting and The Talented Mr. Ripley. That was until 2002's unexpected hit The Bourne Identity. Based on the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name, the action flick not only expanded Damon's range and changed the dynamic of America action movies, but also served as the springboard for a solid film series. As preparation for this weekend's Jason Bourne I'm going through the original trilogy to find out which film is the most exciting, which one has the best central fight, which film has the strongest emotional resonance, and which movie has the best car chase beginning with the original.

The Bourne Identity opens with a body in the water that's brought aboard a small shipping vessel. Despite his rescuers kindness, however, the man cannot remember a shred of his former identity or figure out why his skill set ranges from mastery of languages to proper naval knots. After a visit to a Zurich bank, the once nameless man discovers his apparent identity Jason Bourne. However, when American agents appear dead-set on bringing him in, Bourne will go on the run with a German woman named Marie to stay a step ahead and find the truth.

Of all the Bourne movies Identity, is probably the most traditional in terms of structure, style, and narrative. We've got a handsome male lead, who's proficient in...everything, we have the female love interest and assistant, and most of the movie is dedicated to a standard espionage/identity mystery. It wasn't until Paul Greengrass came in Supremacy & Ultimatum with his shaky-cam intensity that the series found a unique angle for action films. These reasons are why this film tends to get forgotten in the shuffle. But should it? I'd say no because even by the series' own standards, which I indicated above, this is solid work.

The Fight: Fast, Furious, and One-Sided

The central fight of the movie is a tad unique in this series because it opens with something akin to a jump scare. After enjoying a peaceful moment and making eye contact with one another, Marie and Jason's reverie is broken by an assassin coming through a window, machine gun blazing. What follows is a furious fight in an office space between Bourne and said assassin who begins by wielding a blade and ends by getting own by a pen and leaping off the balcony to his death. The stuff is between is well choreographed and inventive using the surroundings and improvised tools nearby to great affect, but it's hard not to notice how one-sided this fight is. I love it when heroes dominate but it should be against a bunch of people, not just one guy.

The Emotional Stakes: Middling

The Bourne Identity aims to grab the viewer in two possible places. The first is the mystery behind our heroes origins and how he ended up in the ocean half dead and the second is his embrace of humanity/the love story with Marie. I go back and forth the effectiveness of the dual pronged method. Part of me feels like after you find a box full of a gun, passports, and money and you know you can speak any language and fight like Bruce Lee your head would start to say "hmm government agent..." I also don't see a strong emotional connection between Marie and Jason until the script insists that they get physically intimate with one another. Add in the fact that Bourne's final attack on Treadstone is negated by a superior cleaning up with one of the project's assassins and you've kinda taken the wind out of the sails.

The Car Chase: Compact and Crazy

One of the film's best action sequences is the car chase in a Mini-Cooper. By now we've all seen the insanity you can put together when you ignore the rules of physics and logic (looking at you fondly Fast & Furious) so how do we deliver a solid chase in a unique way? Make the most of your vehicle choice. We've got plenty of solid stunt driving (going into traffic, handbrake turns, and minor collisions), but we've also got elements like going down a local stairwell or driving on the sidewalk that amps things up a bit. The only downsides are the odd slowish techno music choice and the fact that it's predominantly city driving and thus not as break-neck in terms of velocity.

Excitement Level: Higher Than Average Adrenaline Shot Driven By Curiosity

Though perhaps not as strong as some of the series later entries, The Bourne Identity gives the series a solid blueprint for its future successes and features more than enough unique set-pieces and solid fight choreography for action fans.Tomorrow we'll see if The Bourne Supremacy can live up to its name.