Get ready for some serious ass kicking. Damon has been tough before, (whether it was by belittling a pseudo-intellectual in a Harvard bar, or whooping some Germans in occupied France) but never as hard-hitting as he is in The Bourne Identity. His realistic hand-to-hand bouts with his enemies make Keanu Reeves' Matrix performance look like computer animation.
The film, based on a 1980 novel by Robert Ludlum, centers on Jason Bourne, (Matt Damon) who, since being rescued by and Italian fishing crew from the stormy Mediterranean, has no recollection of his past. As he begins his quest to piece together the puzzle that is his identity, he solicits the help of stranger Marie Kreutz (Franka Potente; Run Lola Run, Blow). Marie turns out to be quite a loner herself, and she and Bourne become fugitives on a mission to figure out who is after Bourne and why.
With The Bourne Identity, Liman, whose career hits include Swingers and Go, says good-bye to high rollers and teen raves, and enters into the increasingly clich‚d genre of the CIA thriller (I'm beginning to lose count of the number of times I've seen the caption "CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia," on the screen recently). Nevertheless, Liman's approach is unique; seeking to create more developed characters than one is accustomed to seeing in action films. With somber scenes in Bourne's hideouts, Liman explores the desperation of a man who has lost his past. Unfortunately, these scenes are infrequent and often fail to add depth to Bourne's character. On the other hand, the emptiness of Bourne's character could be intentional, Liman's attempt to express Bourne's lack of identity.
Liman does not feed the audience a run-of-the-mill action movie either. The movie is not full of chaotic gunfights and bombs, but rather hand-to-hand martial arts and boxing. Nick Powell, who artfully engineered the fight scenes in Gladiator and Braveheart, coordinated the fights. And while Damon has clearly had his better performances, he adapts to the role well. He captures the focused energy of a man on a quest for self-discovery. And Franka Potente's character also proves to be deeper than the average "girl along for the ride." Liman deserves credit for trying something different, and creating a film with more integrity than the average shoot-em-up thriller.
