Tonight on TV: Critically acclaimed, this film starring Matt Damon revolutionized action cinema

When Matt Damon lectured James Bond and Ethan Hunt

In 2002, Matt Damon added with The memory in the skin a new string to his bow by playing the famous Doug Liman in front of the camera Jason Bourne. In fact, it’s the first time for him a very physical role where he plays a CIA assassin who had amnesia, an expert in firearms and close combat, as comfortable scaling the walls of an embassy as he is behind the wheel of a vehicle launched into a crazy chase through the streets of Paris. At 32 he therefore becomes a action heroand immediately makes action specialists – the king of the 90s – such as Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Will Smith and Arnold Schwarzenegger seem old.

A man is rescued from the sea with bullets in his back and amnesia. He discovers that he possesses incredible fighting and survival skills, but he has no memory of who he is, nor why he is being hunted. Discovering that his name is Jason Bourne, he embarks on a journey to discover his identity and unravel the mysteries of his past. Pursued by government agents and assassins, he will use his abilities to survive while trying to understand his true identity.

A fundamental film in cinema

The memory in the skin marks a turning point in the action espionage genre. At the time, the genre was dominated by James Bond films, led by Pierce Brosnan, and Tom Cruise himself made a notable entry with Mission Impossible AND Mission: Impossible 2. In both cases, these films feature action sequences larger than life, almost invincible heroes who don’t let anything faze them. With Jason Bourne and The memory in the skinvice versa, we discover a protagonist worriedwho uses violence to defend himself and without sympathy, and who above all tries to understand who he is.

Obsessed with its simplicity, its realism and its coherence, The memory in the skinwhich freely adapts the novel of the same name by Robert Ludlum published in 1980, therefore has the charm of a production that would almost seem artisanalunlike films that use orange kerosene explosions and special effects to bring surreal sequences to the screen.

Great critical and commercial success

Neither the critics nor the public are wrong: we are here a new type of cinema. At the box office, The memory in the skin it is a great success, which accumulates all over the world $214 million in revenue. A remarkable performance for an original film – it is the first film adaptation of Ludlum’s work -, with an actor who was then new to the genre.

Critically, the film was almost unanimously praised. On Rotten Tomatoes, its Tomatometer sits at 89% (out of 194 reviews) and its audience score a 93%. In France, Le Monde gives it a rating of 4/5 and Chronic’art.com a rating of 5/5, conclusive :

Liman’s film is at the same time a pure product – no authorial ambition, just an authentic work of “filmmaking” – and a symptom film, a successful prototype of everything that contemporary American action cinema has to offer, outlines of promises and assured renewal.

This success was followed by four other films, including the first two, Death in the skin AND Bourne’s ultimatumdirected by Paul Greengrass and released in 2004 and 2007, are also models of the genre.

Source: Cine Serie

Ray

Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.