The Bourne Identity

Among the things that I enjoy most about this movie are that Matt Damon has a face that's ordinary enough it becomes easy to believe this is a man who's job is to drift in and out of different places, leaving as little a mark as possible. As well, the lack of CG wizardry and the presence of some old-fashioned stunts (which remain within the laws of known physics) is a refreshing, I want to say 'spin' but that would be inaccurate as it's the way thing used to be all the time, treat. A lot of people seem to want to compare Bourne and Bond, but I'd wager to say that such a comparison is unfair. Not simply for the fact that it is fully possible to like both without violating brand rules, since Bond is owned by MGM and Bourne by Universal, which happen to be sister companies, or at least sleep in the same room a lot. In my mind it boils down like this: Bond is pure fantasy, reveling in gadgets, fireballs, and women, where Bourne is concerned with logistics. Bond appeals to the side of us that wants to sit safe knowing that nothing is ever really going to go wrong. Things will take a turn for the worse, but something will save the day, something we wish would happen a little more frequently in our lives. The Bourne stories take the same creative energy and instead focuses on a more sympathetic emotion, we all know how it feels too watch everything in our life go wrong. It's not that Bourne escapes the "going wrong" it's that he manages to adapt rapidly to the situation, something a lot of us wish we were better able to do.
As an additional note, it is wonderful to see a hero who is not so much concerned with revenge or personal betterment. He's not even resigned to the life he lives, or used to live. He wants out. The sooner he can stop killing people, the better. This was a side of Bond seen briefly in Goldeneye when 006 makes the comment about Bond's alcoholism "I might as well ask you if all the vodka martinis ever silence the screams of all the men you've killed" but is otherwise ignored in that series because the reality of the fact that Bond kills human beings for a living is rather unsavory.
To correct a misconception that I previously held, "The Bourne Conspiracy" appears to be the British title of this movie, and is not the title third story in the series, which is actually called "The Bourne Ultimatum." Frankly, I think Bourne Conspiracy sounds better, especially since it fits rhythmically with the other two titles.

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