Reverberations of 2002’s “The Bourne Identity” can still be felt throughout the Hollywood film industry. It kicked off a whole new spy movie genre so powerful, it ended up “de-Bondifying” James Bond.
The main reason it was so good was the premise: here’s a guy whose brain can’t remember who he is, but whose muscle memory knows exactly what he did for a living. He wanders around like a lost child, but when the police prod him with nightsticks, explosive, audience-gasp-producing jiujitsu moves suddenly materialize out of nowhere, surprising Bourne just as much as they do us.
Matt Damon returns to his most iconic role as off-the-reservation black ops agent Jason Bourne, in "Jason Bourne." Universal Pictures
