68
Metascore
38 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Chicago ReaderHank SartinChicago ReaderHank SartinThe full-throttle approach of director Doug Liman (Swingers, Go) is impressive.
- 80Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonThere isn't a dull or dumb moment in this movie.
- 80TimeRichard SchickelTimeRichard SchickelThe result is an escapist fantasy that is -- Damon's and Potente's persuasive performances aside -- as weightless and inconsequential as a musical. And at the moment every bit as welcome.
- 75Baltimore SunMichael SragowBaltimore SunMichael SragowThe Bourne Identity keeps you in a state of nervous excitation from the opening shot to the fade-out and has a thread of deadpan humor that vibrates alongside the main action like a third rail quivering next to a hurtling train.
- 75New York Daily NewsJami BernardNew York Daily NewsJami BernardThrillers have become so gnawingly generic that The Bourne Identity wakes the senses without leaning on cliché and soundtrack.
- 75Chicago TribuneMark CaroChicago TribuneMark CaroLiman packs enough firepower into The Bourne Identity to please the summer action fan, including a reshot climax that contains one of the niftier stunts I've seen recently. The centerpiece action sequence is a bravura car chase through Paris, yet the moments that bookend it are equally impressive.
- 63New York PostJonathan ForemanNew York PostJonathan ForemanA lean, deftly shot, well-acted, weirdly retro thriller that recalls a raft of '60s and '70s European-set spy pictures. There are even moments when you hope it could turn into a modern "Charade."
- 60TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxThis savvy adaptation of Robert Ludlum's action-clogged 1980 bestseller benefits from the fact that the filmmakers were smart enough to throw out most of the book's preposterous spills and thrills and concentrate instead on its intriguing central character.
- 58Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanIt has a few whispers of intrigue, but at the heart of The Bourne Identity lies a dispiriting paradox: The more that Jason Bourne learns about himself, the less arresting he seems.
- 40Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanBanal big-budget adaptation of Robert Ludlum's 1980 espionage thriller.