Le jour du soleil noir

XIII is based on a French graphic that became a popular video game.

Going by the first episode of this mini series. The inspiration is very much The Bourne Identity.

The female president of the USA is assassinated whilst giving her Veterans Day speech. Several months later the assassin is not found and the US Presidential elections are due. The Vice President who has taken over wants the killer found. The dead President's brother is running on national security issues.

In the deep woods lies a young man (Stephen Dorff) who is severely injured. He has amnesia and a tattoo of a Roman numeral XIII on his chest.

The old couple caring for him are suddenly killed as the man finds himself on the run from government security services and a deep black ops assassin The Mongoose (Val Kilmer.)

XIII realises that he is the one accused of killing the president. He also has extensive military training and been involved in black ops himself.

XIII needs to clear his name and find his own identity. He is aided by a woman he met in some internet cafe but government agents are close behind. There is not doubt that there was some kind of conspiracy behind the assassination of the president.

This is enjoyable hokum but you just need to realise that the Bourne movies did this better.

Dorff is a good lead. Caterina Murino adds sultriness. Kilmer is an effective bad guy. It is a decent enough mini series with some good action scenes.