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When a fishing trawler finds a man in the middle of the ocean they find two bullets in his back and details of a bank account embedded under his skin. The man doesn’t know who he is but finds he can instinctively fight, decide on the best exit strategies and escape the police, all in style. He finds details of who he might be at the bank but there are so many identities, which is the real him. Assuming the name of Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and buying a lift to Paris from someone he met at the US Embassy (Marie played by Franka Poltente), he sets off to find out who he really is. But when he finds himself under constant surveillance and attacks, he’s not sure he wants to be who he is.

With the government on his tail at every turn Bourne has no choice but to run, in doing so he endangers the life of Marie and tries to set her free. Using several loose ends he finds at various locations around him, Bourne manages to piece enough of the story together to realise he is a very dangerous man.

I have tried many times to sit through this movie and many times I have failed. It’s not that its a bad film, it just doesn’t grip me in the way it should. There are some great set pieces in it such as the Mini chase through the streets and the choreography is first rate however I felt the story dragged and just like Bourne himself, didn’t deliver the answers I was looking for. If it wasn’t for the incredibly loud gun fights blasting out my surround sound there is every chance I would have dropped off again.

I can’t complain about the acting, Damon puts in a solid performance and does well with the little meat he is actually given. It all comes down to the storytelling for me. I read that fans of the book are not necessarily fans of the movie as it misses so much out, so perhaps the adaptation is to blame. Not being able to have a real history of the character seemed to harm the integrity of the film and gave me nothing to like about Bourne. The flimsy love storyline wasn’t involving as merely two folks who know nobody else but each other so it’s only right to get it on?

The premise sounds good on paper, the lead actor should draw the crowds but the movie wasn’t satisfying enough. Perhaps the sequels will provide more entertainment but having sat through this I’m highly sceptical I’ll ever get around to them.