Matt Damon’s fight sequence in his $290 million action thriller gets high marks from an expert for its martial arts. Hand-to-hand combat was the last thing on Damon’s mind in early films like The Rainmaker, Dogma and Rounders, movies that were not about highlighting his physical prowess. His character in Good Will Hunting was indeed a scrapper, but his fighting style was not exactly polished.

Damon’s ascendance to star status saw him playing a lot of cocky kids a la young Tom Cruise, mixing in the occasional comedy (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) and grown-up thriller (Ocean’s 11). There were also the prestige dramas, some on the cringey side (The Legend of Bagger Vance), and some in the respectable failure department (All the Pretty Horses). Damon then embarked on a new path in his career, one that would eventually lead him to blockbuster success as a leading actor.

Hand-to-hand combat would very much be on Damon’s mind in the action-hero mode he unlocked beginning in 2002, and according to one expert, his fighting style would legitimately get the job done in real life.

Expert D.J. Shipley Praises Damon’s Martial Arts Work In The Bourne Supremacy

The Movie Grossed $290 Million In 2004

The Bourne Supremacy was the second movie in the franchise Damon launched in 2002, and in the view of ex-Navy SEAL Shipley, it has some very believable fighting scenes. The Bourne movies have indeed earned praise for their stunts and editing, and the pulse-poundingly visceral experience they provide (which proved a big influence on everything from James Bond to the MCU).

Damon’s work in The Bourne Supremacy is broken down by martial arts and military expert Shipley in a new video, in which he discusses the combatants’ close-quarters fighting style (around 21:45 of the video via Insider):

Good use of knees and elbows. He’s already handcuffed right now but he’s in such a short range. He can generate so much power. Now he’s got a knife. Bourne should be backing up right now, which he is but he’s not fully disengaging. I would have turned around and ran and got things in between me and him.

Shipley goes on to discuss the scene’s realistic sense of how to frustrate an opponent using improvised weapons:

And now he’s looking for some sort of improvised weapon. You can see him. Anything for distance. Now it’s just a rolled up newspaper. Just enough to get him back. Smack him in the face. Lose his confidence. Lose his confidence. Lose his confidence over and over. He’ll get frustrated. And then you trap him. It’s no different than boxing.

He then talks about the martial arts style he personally teaches in the military:

I mean you can see it when they’re smashing each other against the walls. He gets him in a modified Muay Thai clinch and kind of pulls him in and they’re trying to sweep their legs out. We train Silat Kali in the military. It’s a really, really effective form of fighting. Comes from the Philippines. They do a lot of blade work, a lot of extended weapons, a lot of environmentals and then a lot of wrist arm traps. A lot of it’s really really applicable for that close-in fighting where you have to deploy multiple tools.

Shipley’s verdict is then revealed:

Man, I love Jason Bourne. I’d give this an eight.

Our Take On Damon’s Bourne Franchise Shift

He Turned Himself Into A Legitimate Action Star

It’s interesting to note the love a real-life Navy SEAL like Shipley has for the Bourne movies. It’s a series that prides itself on unleashing some truly bone-crunching action, and going by one expert’s remarks, it seems the movie succeeds at conveying some of what it’s really like to engage an opponent in close-quarters hand-to-hand combat.

Damon’s action-hero turn was indeed a big moment in his career. His early films may not have indicated he had it in him to compete with the likes of Tom Cruise in the action-thriller arena, but when Damon steered himself in that direction, he showed a Cruise-like level of commitment, working hard on both his body and his fighting skills, wanting to make movies as exciting as the Mission: Impossible films. The five-film franchise that includes The Bourne Supremacy has grossed $1.64 billion, a tidy sum. Perhaps most importantly, it allowed Damon to enjoy franchise success without his having to sign on with the MCU or Star Wars.

Source: Insider/YouTube