Returning to the seminal thriller, it’s clear how low-key radical it was for the times.
Every week,Entertainment Weeklyis looking back at the biggest movies of the summer of 2002.
Join us for a rewatch of the first true summer of Hollywood’s strange new millennium.
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DARREN:The pen, Leah,the pen!
In 2002, as in 2022, the Hollywood blockbuster trend was toward big-and-bigger digital fantasy.
Movie spies were now uber-spies, performing Olympian feats of action.
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Ethan Hunt had just jumped off a helicopter down through a skyscraper.
James Bond was about todrive an invisible car through a melting ice palace.
Jack Ryan literally just saw Baltimorenuked off the map.
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He doesn’t remember a thing about his life, but his muscle memory is strong.
He knows how to fight, how to disappear, how to free-climb down the side of an embassy.
The plot, on a macro level, is simple: America’s intelligence apparatus is devouring itself.
Marie’s trying to figure Bourne out.
Bourne’s trying to figure Bourne out.
They’re both trying to figure out what shadowy forces are turning Europe against them.
What are your memories of watchingBournein 2002, Leah, and how did it hold up this go-round?
Yes, it’s popcorn.
Don’t worry, though; I will spare you the cue cards I made for Potente.
Why would someone do that?"
barking out Bourne sightings and location codes from their desk-duty chairs.
Still, this is Damon’s movie, and I think he’s fantastic.
DARREN:You’re nailing the peculiar magic ofBourne’s lead identity, Leah.
The wrong performance would’ve made Bourne a blank and this was an unsettled period in Damon’s filmography.
Was he a crassKevin Smith snarkbot, a blandsomeBagger Vanceprestige chaser, or an indie weirdo dedicated toGerry-esque oddity?
The amazing thing is that Jason Bourne gets to be all of the above, and more.
But there’s also a genuine humor in his confusion, and a feeling of dark depths.
It’s as if sweet naive Linus fromOcean’s Elevenkeeps seeingThe Talented Mr. Ripleyin the mirror.
In that sense,Bourne Identityfits clearly into a popular strand of Y2K cinema.
But where those films get a lot of their mileage from a narcotized placelessness,Bourneis all local flavor.
You’re the only person I know."
The movie carries one missing possibility, a bit ridiculous yet meaningful.
In spy-movie terms, this is anIndiana-Jones-ends-a-swordfight-with-a-gunmoment.
The American intelligence apparatus isalwaysthe villain in aBournemovie.
That said, the later Bournes lose a lot of this film’s casual humor, and thehow-am-I-doing-thisawe.
What’s amazing is thatIdentitygot there so early.
I know you’re someone who thinks a lot about theBourneseries, Leah.
Should we just appreciate that a movie so eccentric and casually paranoid became a blockbuster franchise?
How didthatbecome Bourne’s anthem?
The sequels may have diluted some of the power of the franchise, but the O.G.Bournestill stands.
To quoteanother great movie line,approximately: “We gave him our heart.
He gave us a pen.”
Read past 2002 rewatches:
