What it’s about: Rescued from the Mediterranean with no memory and two bullet holes in his back, a man who soon learns his name is Jason Bourne (Damon) quickly realizes that, not only does he have an unusual set of instinctive skills, he’s being hunted by some very dangerous people. Specifically, his CIA handler, Alexander Conklin (Cooper), under pressure from his superior (Cox) to resolve the problem that Jason’s failed mission and suddenly unpredictable behavior have become. Following clues to his past, Jason recruits Marie (Potente), an aimless young German woman who becomes his only friend in the world as he gathers information and formulates a plan to turn the tables on his unforgiving former employers.

Reflections: From what I understand, Gilroy’s script stripped down Robert Ludlum’s 1980 novel and Herron’s original draft, omitting a good deal of political-thriller context to focus on Jason’s experience discovering what he’s capable of and why. And, while it doesn’t make as much of a mystery of his mission or identity as it could, that focus still ultimately serves it. Damon sells the capable bewilderment of a man who genuinely wants to do the right thing rapidly realizing and wrestling with how much that is out of character for him . And because the specifics of the politics don’t matter, there’s less to get hung up on, which gives it an energy that holds up.

Action-thrillers in the early aughts had a kind of airy, shellacked feel to a lot of them, and that is true here, but it’s done well. The action is mostly grounded–a few moments, like riding the body down the stairwell, stretch credibility, but forgivably so–without being self-consciously gritty. And scenes like the car-chase in Paris are cleanly edited and comprehensible while still having an element of spectacle, emphasized by an electronic soundtrack that is just bangin’ enough without overdoing it. Potente is solid as a female lead in this kind of movie, occasionally overcoming the thanklessness of that with flashes of depth. And the supporting cast is great, even if most of them are underutilized.

I would call this a solid, tightly-exectued genre flick. It’s not doing anything especially inventive–particularly viewing it again a quarter-century after the fact–and it takes itself very seriously, but it also delivers what it promises: some star-power, some paranoid, badass spy shit, a certain–at this point, nostalgic–aesthetic sensibility, and it does all of that well. A bit dour, but not dumb, and sprinkled with enough genuinely cool moments to be worth recommending, if only for a certain kind of mood.