The Bourne Identity (2002 movie)

The Bourne Identity is an action-thriller movie released in 2002. It is based on the novel by Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Identity, which was published in 1980. The movie is directed by Doug Liman. It stars Matt Damon as the main character, Jason Bourne.

In the movie, as Jason Bourne recovers from his gunshot wound, he finds that he has lost his memory. As he recovered his memory, he learns he was involved with an international spy agency. The movie is set in Europe, in places such as Prague, Paris, and Italy. It shows thrilling gunfights, car chases, and action scenes. After release, the box-office profit was successful. Two sequels, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum were released in 2004 and 2007.

Plot

An unidentified man is rescued from the sea by fishermen. Because of amnesia, he cannot remember who he is. He cannot remember why he was drowning in the sea, how the gunshot wound on his back was made, how he can speak many languages or how he has martial arts skills. He only knows the number to his Swiss bank safe which was hidden in his skin.

In the safe, he finds a huge amount of cash, and passports for each country. He saw the name "Jason Bourne" on his U.S. passport and he believes that is his name. After he has some trouble at the U.S. embassy in Zurich, he moves to Paris with the help of a woman named Marie Kreutz. Wherever he moves, the police and assassins chase him and Marie. In continuous chasing between Bourne and the killers, he notices that some unknown big power threatens his existence. To find his identity and the reason why they are trying to kill him, Bourne gradually gains access to the unknown agency.

Cast

• Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
• Franka Potente as Marie Kreutz
• Chris Cooper as Alexander Conklin
• Clive Owen as The Professor
• Brian Cox as Ward Abbott
• Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Nykwana Wombosi
• Gabriel Mann as Danny Zorn
• Walton Goggins as Research tech
• Josh Hamilton as Research tech

Critics

After the movie was released in the U.S., the movie got generally good reviews from several critics", especially for the acting of Matt Damon and the direction of Doug Liman. Peter Howell of the Toronto Star said, "An entertaining thriller that eschews most of the usual spy gimmicks in favour of old-fashioned sleuthing." Eric Harrison of the Houston Chronicle praised the direction of Liman: "The Bourne Identity shouldn't be half as entertaining as it is, but director Doug Liman and his colleagues have managed to pack it with enough action to satisfy the boom-bam crowd without a huge sacrifice of character and mood." Matt Damon also got praise from Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post: "Great fights. You wouldn't think of Damon as a tough guy, but he's worked really hard on the physical stuff here and it shows."

Other websites

• Official website Archived 2020-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
• The Bourne Identity on IMDb
• The Bourne Identity on Khatrimaza Archived 2023-05-12 at the Wayback Machine