Movie Time - Saw the two big films opening this weekend, The Bourne Identity and Scooby Doo.

The Bourne Identity was a tight, entertaining thriller, with a much more accessible plot and and more engaging characters than The Sum of All Fears. Matt Damon is convincingly able to convey distaste for the violence his character is forced to commit and unlike Fears' Kathy Ryan, Franke Potente's character actually has some substance. Matt Damon beefed up for the role, but I was a bit disappointed that there was so little skin shown. Only one shirtless scene, barely showing his shoulders and biceps? I guess he wouldn't want to appear like he was flaunting too much.

Scooby Doo is visually exciting and distinctive, carefully establishing a cartoonishly "spooky" theme throughout the sets and locations. I enjoyed Scooby, but I'm not sure I could recommend it. It's definitely aimed at kids, relying very heavily on slapstick humor and fart jokes. The computer generated images aren't always entirely well integrated into the scenes, but the actors seem to be having fun. I couldn't help but wonder how much more I would have enjoyed an R-rated version of the film, with more innuendo on Velma's lesbian tendencies and Shaggy's attraction to Mary Jane. But, as it is, the movie is faithful to the cartoon original while very gently poking fun at its conventions. Salon does a fantastic job of reviewing the movie as well.