The Bourne Identity is a shining example of how to present an enigma to the viewer from the outset, build on that enigma to near-excruciating levels, whilst hurling in wild car chases and intelligent action. In short - it's the rare action film that has a brain.

The film opens with Jason Bourne (Damon) being rescued from the ocean by a ship, unconscious with two bullets in his back, and a bank code stored on a chip embedded in his hip. Furthermore, Bourne has amnesia, yet upon reaching land, and when confronted by adversaries, he finds that he is a highly adept fighter. Furthermore, the CIA, and more notably two somewhat shady agents (played by Chris Cooper and Brian Cox) appear to have some interest in Bourne and the mysterious "Treadstone" project. As Bourne follows various leads in the hope of making sense of this mess, he becomes even more confused, and it soon becomes clear that people are out to kill him. Why? Well, that's the wonderful mystery of The Bourne Identity.

As smart as the character of Jason Bourne is, it's refreshing to see that he's not perfect - whilst when escaping a Zurich bank he has the good sense to steal a police radio, he walks past it first and has to backtrack a few steps to grab it. These little subtleties make Jason Bourne a more complex character, and moreover, more realistic.

Before Bourne has any time to take a breather, he meets Marie (Potente), and after offering her a rather large monetary incentive, Marie drives Bourne to Paris. Once this uneasy relationship is established, Liman decides (rather smartly) to flesh out the CIA angle. This is yet another great little nuance of this film - Liman gives us a near-balanced view of this rather intense situation, cutting between Marie and Bourne, and Cooper and Cox's characters.

Once the initial chaos subsides, a speedy rapport develops between Marie and Bourne, something beyond the mutual benefits of this transaction (Marie receiving $20,000 for the lift, and Bourne getting where he needs to go). Whilst this could so very easily simply become a conventional love story relationship, what's refreshing about it is that Bourne simply, flat-out tells Marie what he knows of his troubles, and does away with that melodramatic, overblown, cliché way of holding things back. It feels more authentic to me, character-wise, and lesser films have faltered when ignoring this.

Whilst it does very much appear to be a relationship of convenience by the time they reach Bourne's Paris retreat (Bourne wants company, Marie needs a place to stay), what I particularly loved about this relationship was that Marie almost becomes something of a protégé to Bourne - he teaches her a few things about espionage, and she manages to impress Bourne with a few slick moves of her own.

It's not long before Bourne postulates that there may very well be no-one to trust, and must remain suspicious if he is to remain alive. A number of violent encounters give Bourne no more answers, and it's not long before Bourne and Marie are on the lam in Paris, with seemingly nowhere to hide. Furthermore, Bourne is clearly frustrated, in that he is reluctant to involve Marie in this volatile situation (and quite honestly, he's probably thinking that she'd slow him down), but she wishes to stay, perhaps feeling safe with Bourne. This, combined with Bourne having little time to rest between dispatching assassins sent for him, telegraphs him as a smouldering, determined character that will not be stopped, and, as a viewer, he is difficult to dislike, and extremely easy to sympathise with.

Soon enough, the much-lauded car-chase sequence comes around, and what I truly love about this scene is that whilst it's highly frenetic (even cut to what is now a dance club classic by Paul Oakenfold), it is also one of the most authentic car-chases in recent memory. It has a truly old-school feel about it, where car collisions result in shunting and flying metal as opposed to preposterously-placed explosions. Even though Bourne exhibits all of the deft skill of a professional stunt car driver, this scene is a breath of fresh air, and I would go as far as to call it both the most exciting scene of the film, and one of the best car chases in years.

As the enigma begins to unravel itself, some dark truths are revealed to Bourne and Marie, truths that will test the strength of the relationship they've developed, working somewhat of a rift between them. Further tensions rise as the CIA agents are pressed to put Bourne in a body bag to cover their own hides. Cooper and Cox's characters know that Bourne's smart and moreover, a tough cookie, and Bourne is aware of the CIA's resources, so there's a brilliant back and forth battle of wits here. These CIA agents aren't inherently evil (although their Treadstone project isn't the most by-the-book operation there is), and rather than gearing towards some sort of political goal, these men are simply after self-preservation. As such, the much-overused message of "the police = bad" is absent here, and rather, it just seems that most of the time the authorities are after Bourne, it's simple police officers just doing their job. It's only the Treadstone assassins sent after Bourne that one could deem as true villains, and even then, one of them, when defeated, offers a few insights to Bourne.

Following more carnage, Bourne and Marie escape to a rural farmhouse retreat, where important scenes of character development take place (scenes which, funnily enough, Damon and Liman reportedly had to fight to keep in the final cut). It's here that we see Bourne briefly interact with a man's children, and he worries that coming here is endangering them. Bourne also considers simply forgetting about who he was, and focusing on who he is now, going underground and leaving with Marie. It's the quaint subtleties in this scene that make it so important in developing Bourne as the person we come to know him as.

Before Bourne can make any decisions, he's preyed upon by a Treadstone assassin (played with gusto by the then largely-unknown Clive Owen), and Bourne is thrust into action. Much to his dismay, he is still left with few answers once the battle is over.

The final confrontation is tense, and filled with shocking revelations. More violent encounters are thrown Bourne's way (including the only weak, CGI-laden action piece of the film - a preposterous scene where Bourne rides a man down a staircase), and a wonderful twist is thrown in for good measure that helps to set up the sequel rather nicely.

The film ultimately ends on something of an optimistic note, and considering how easily the ending could have descended into a forced, contrived and cheesy mess, it's an impressive testament to the talent on hand that all the ending did was leave me salivating for the next instalment. Also, Moby's "Extreme Ways" playing us out has since become the iconic song for the series, and rightly so.

The Bourne Identity takes a story that could very-well have been a decent, but decidedly average spy thriller, and ratchets up the action with such intelligence, such dedicated craftsmanship so as to deliver a production that is truly special. It's a wonderful return to the old-school action thriller, devoid of overly-hyperactive camerawork and overblown action, and best of all, it's the start to a wonderful trilogy.