Damon hails 'action hero with brains'

Hundreds of screaming girls braved the rain at the premiere in London's Leicester Square for a glimpse of the actor, who plays super-fit CIA assassin Jason Bourne.

Gallery: See pictures from the premiere here

Damon said it was his character's intelligence that kept them hooked on the film series, now in its third instalment.

"It's an action film with brains, so I think women like that," he said.

"They like the character because he's smart and he thinks himself out of situations.

"He always seems to be at a disadvantage - other heroes and the spies chasing him have gadgets but he has to survive by just his wits."

His co-star Julia Stiles said women would love the film because her character Nicky was more than just a love interest.

"I think the girls get to do more interesting things in these films than just play a love interest or walk out of the sea in a bikini," she said.

"They get to be part of the action and decision making."

Earlier today, at a press conference, Damon dismissed parallels drawn between his character and James Bond, saying Jason Bourne was not misogynous.

He said: "The characters are so fundamentally different they almost don't bear comparison.

"Bond is an imperialist and a misogynist who kills people and laughs about it and drinks Martinis and cracks jokes.

"Bourne is a serious monogamist whose girlfriend is dead and he does nothing but think about her.
He doesn't have the support of gadgets and he feels guilty for what he's done."

The Bourne Ultimatum follows The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy, all adapted from Robert Ludlum's best-selling spy novels.

The first two took more than 500 million US dollars (£250 million) at the global box office.

The latest film scored the biggest August opening in US movie history and opens across the UK tomorrow.

The plot sees the terrifyingly well-trained Jason Bourne, who has his memory erased, dodge his superiors' efforts to kill him as he tries to discover who he was.

He teams up with an investigative reporter, played by Paddy Considine, on the trail of the CIA conspiracy.

His quest take him to Moscow, Paris, London, Tangiers and New York.

Tonight 36-year-old Damon refused to rule out starring in a fourth film.

He says: "I never say never, but I think it would be unlikely."