Bourne Again

I loved the first Bourne movie, The Bourne Identity. It completely changed action movies and their heroes; Matt Damon was at first considered an odd choice for the lead role. But once the movie debuted, every one was in love with him. Remember how he pulls out the map before a car chase? Awesome. Two sequels were made, which I lost interest in the moment Marie was killed in the opening minutes of The Bourne Supremacy.

Normally I'm not a fan of series that ended and try to get going again with a different character who is somehow linked to the original. But most the time those movies don't include Edward Norton, Rachel Weisz and Jeremy Renner.

Edward Norton is super cool--he's the thinking person's celebrity crush. He always gives so much to every role that I'd watch him in anything. Also, his graying hair is kinda hot. Rachel Weisz is fantastic as usual (I'd expect nothing less from 007's wife). Jeremy Renner plays a good version of a slightly (medically) tweaked Jason Bourne.

The movie is a little slow at first, with a lot of medical backstory being explained and political maneuvering getting covered. But then it kicks into high gear and just keeps going. It's intense, and the car chase in Manila is pretty awesome. I really liked that the movie showed the CIA and all those other government agencies having to do some leg work to find Aaron and Marta--on the phones, figuring things out, telling all the underlings to ask for help if they needed it; it made the movie seem more real and grounded. Although I still don't know how the man chasing them on a motorbike always knows where Aaron and Marta are and is not hindered at all by two gunshot wounds.

The movie was great and I can't wait for the sequel.