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The Bourne Identity By Christopher Bauer

VS  Although they share a name, The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum and its movie adaptation have very little to nothing in common. The book describes a man who is found shot in the ocean without his memory. He is saved by a boat and taken to a doctor on land who helps him regain his strength and begin to remember his past. The man travels to Zurich because of a negative found implanted in his body that leads to a bank. There, he is ambushed by enemies he knows not, and with the help of an unwilling woman named Marie St.Jacques he escapes. The man, whose name is discovered to be Jason Bourne, and Marie fall in love and end up in Paris. The unknown enemy is revealed to be Carlos, the world’s best assassin. As Bourne remembers more of his past, he begins to hunt Carlos. We learn that Bourne had been working for the US government as an assassin known as Cain. He was tasked with making his way into the assassination business and eventually killing the elusive Carlos. However, Bourne is framed for the murders of his old commanders in the CIA and other US agencies. Because of that, Bourne must escape the US government, who think he has broken and gone rouge, and Carlos, who wants to kill his greatest rival. He must do all that, while trying to find out who and what he was before losing his memory.

media type="file" key="The_Bourne_Identity_(Trailer)_[www.keepvid.com].mp4" width="275" height="273" align="left"The movie keeps very few things similar. In the movie, a man is fished from the sea, where a doctor on the boat helps him. He finds a laser projector in the man’s hip that shows the same Zurich bank as in the book. There, he finds a passport with the name Jason Bourne on it, which he adopts. He also finds money and other passports in a hidden compartment. Jason is forced to run from the police and escapes Zurich with the help of a woman, Marie Kreutz. They go to Paris where Jason hopes to learn about his past. In Paris he must evade an assassin sent to kill him and the police trying to arrest him. Jason uses the phone of a dead assassin to track down the people trying to kill him (a secret CIA group known as Treadstone). He finds the government hideout in Paris and inside is able to learn what he was in his past.

As it can be deduced from the vastly different plots, the movie is completely unfaithful. The only things it keeps the same is the basic plot line, and some minor characters. It keeps the story line of a man who is found shot in the ocean with no memory, but he soon realizes he was an assassin. They keep almost the same account number (000-7-17-12-0-14-26 movie, and 0-7-17-12-0-14-26-0 book) and the same bank (The Gemeinschaft) that is implanted into Jason in the form of a piece of film (novel), and a laser projector (movie). The first name of the woman Jason falls in love with is the same in both, Marie. They both involve a secretive company called Treadstone and there is a man behind it called Conklin and David Abbot. That is where the similarities end. Some major differences include a change in time period. The book takes place in the 1980's, while the movie takes place in 2002 (when it was produced). The biggest difference is the inclusion of an assassin named Carlos whom Jason is hunting in the book. The majority book revolves around Jason's connection to Carlos, and trying to kill him. The book doesn't deal that much with Treadstone, while that is the sole focus of the movie.

They may have vastly different plots, but in the movie, I like how some of the characters were portrayed. I think Matt Damon did a fantastic job. He brought the peacefulness in Turbulent situations that a professional assassin would have. But he was able to poke the nice side Jason had when he saw kids. He fit his history, he looked like a man who came from the army, but became an assassin. I also think that Brian Cox did a fantastic job as Ward Abbott. He helped bring out the fact the Treadstone was an illegal program that he was worried about. He also helped stress how dangerous Bourne was to the countries secrets. Although they did well I fell Franka Potente who played Marie did a bad job. She didn't show the kind of concern that you would have if a stranger who was nervous around the cops offered you $20,000 for a ride to Paris. You would be scared what to do that because he’s probably dangerous and can kill you and steal your car if you decline. She also didn't react very much as Jason told her his life story, and all the weird things he can do. I would be pretty amazed at the facts Bourne could say off the top of his head all the facts that he said at the diner. But Marie sat there with a normal stare, completely unemotional. Overall I feel that the actors and actresses did an alright job, three out of five stars.

The media type="file" key="bourne_identity_chase_[www.keepvid.com].mp4" width="266" height="262" align="left" settings of the book and movie are one of the rare similarities. I feel that the locations that the movie was shot at really added to the movie. The car chase in Paris benefitted from its location. The part where Jason takes the car down stairs is really cool. In Zurich, they show the famous Zurich trams, which help Jason evade the police and get into the US embassy at one point. The only thing I missed was the bears around Zurich. Even when he's walking down Bahnhofstrasse, you can't see the bears. I think that the setting of Eamon's house really benefits the fight between Bourne and the Professor. It helps make the fight seem more unique. I also like how Jason used the environment to help him. The setting also was beneficial in the final fight. The apartment is perfect because it allows Jason to be really cool and push the dead body down the atrium and shot someone while on it. I feel even though the parts in Zurich were lacking the bears, the locations of the movie was shot in were very beneficial.

Throughout the movie, there is subtle music and sounds that enhance the movie. In the car chase, the song “Ready Set Go” by Paul Okenfold can be heard in the background. It helps with the more boring parts of the chase. It also helps build suspense before the car goes down the steps. The sound also helps in the scene where Bourne is chasing The Professor. All that can be heard are the natural sounds like birds and crickets. There is almost total silence broken by a gunshot and the scattering of the birds. The silence helps show the life or death hunting going on. I also like in that scene how the gunshot echoes. It makes you realize that they shot in a place that actually had large hills and mountains around it. If it didn't then the shot wouldn't have such unique echoes. From background music in the car chase, to the silence of the hunt, I felt that the sound overall added to the movie's seriousness, and life and death situations.

Although the book and movie are very far apart on the plot, the movie is much better. I enjoy the hand-to-hand combat in the movie, as well as the car chases. The one fight in the book was hard to follow, and there are no car chases. That is due to the difficulty in describing them. I also liked that the plot of the movie was easier to follow, dealing with only one enemy. In the book, there are two enemies trying to kill Bourne. That causes it to be hard to follow. I also disliked the changing perspectives of the book. You changed from the perspective of Bourne, Marie, assassins meeting Carlos, David Webb, and to many others. It takes a moment starting a new chapter to realize who perspective you are seeing the story from. The thing that I dislike about the book the most is how confusing it is. There is a lot more of Jason tricking people into telling him information, and him lying to people. It gets more confusing listening to Jason trying to trick people because we don't know everything at that time. I prefer in the movie how Jason uses his own skills to figure out the information he needs. That makes it so we know everything he knows. Overall, the movie is a lot more concise and that is why I like it more and I would recommend it over the book every time.