While James Bond was reinvented in 2006 with Casino Royale, chances are that it never would have happened without Jason Bourne. In 2002, Matt Damon brought Jason Bourne to life, and with him, ushered in an entirely new sort of spy to a world that had never seen his like.

Most of us were used to having our martinis served a particular way. Maybe you had seen Pierce Brosnan as Bond, or maybe you caught him in The Thomas Crown Affair before that – but it’s still the old-school spy. No longer. Spies have grown up. Or maybe they haven’t. Instead of being sauve and debonair, they are now rough and tumble, in step with what the younger movie-going crowd wants.

Jason Bourne is probably more like Tom Anderson from the Matrix than anything we’ve seen in the James Bond movies. Dumped off a freighter and left for dead after he was supposed to kill a head of state, he now has amnesia, and is fighting for his life trying to figure out who he is and what his purpose is in this life. Along the way, he discovers that he does know one thing – how to survive.

While he is trying to figure out who put him into this precarious position, and how to get back to wherever he was before, Bourne manages to fight his way through most of the world, and seemingly take on much of the elite fighting forces that our government can throw against him. That’s another aspect of this character that makes it so much fun. No arch-enemies or super villains here, just good old conspiracies that may turn out to be true. And the skills to take them down. Most of us can get into a story like that.

There isn’t much acting to worry about along the way – just on the part of Matt Damon, and he does a decent enough job as Jason Bourne. There are a few people who pop up here and there as the handlers who are trying to keep him down, but most of the others we see are only in passing as Bourne takes them out. You read that right – there’s plenty of action in this story. Not like good old 007, who sits on a table and smokes a cigarette while he learns the plan of the bad guy.

Rated PG-13 for violence and some language.

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Actor: Aaron Lilly, Actor: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Actor: Alain Grellier, Actor: Andrew Webster, Actor: Anthony Green, Actor: Arnaud Henriet, Actor: Brad Rizer, Actor: Bradley J. Goode, Actor: Brian Cox, Actor: Chris Cooper, Actor: Clive Owen, Actor: Daniel Erskine Nartay, Actor: David Bamber, Actor: David Gasman, Actor: David Selburg, Actor: Delphine Lanson, Actor: Demetri Goritsas, Actor: Denis Braccini, Actor: Elwin 'Chopper' David, Actor: Emanuel Booz, Actor: Eric Moreau, Actor: Franka Potente, Actor: Gabriel Mann, Actor: Gwenaël Clause, Actor: Harry Gilbert, Actor: Houston Williams, Actor: Hubert Saint-Macary, Actor: Jean-Yves Bilien, Actor: Jimmy Jean-Louis, Actor: Joe Montana, Actor: John Pawlikowski, Actor: Joseph Beddelin, Actor: Josh Hamilton, Actor: Joshua McNew, Actor: Julia Stiles, Actor: Kait Tenison, Actor: Katie Thynne, Actor: Ludovic Boulnois, Actor: Matt Damon, Actor: Michael Rix, Actor: Nicky Naude, Actor: Orso Maria Guerrini, Actor: Paulette Frantz, Actor: Philippe Durand, Actor: Rainer Werner, Actor: Roberto Bestazzoni, Actor: Roger Frost, Actor: Ronald Benefield, Actor: Russell Levy, Actor: Thierry René, Actor: Tim Dutton, Actor: Troy Lenhardt, Actor: Vincent Franklin, Actor: Walton Goggins, Actor: William Cagnard, Director: Doug Liman, Rated: PG-13, Year: 2002