Too Much Shaky Cam! (minor spoiler)

Rating: 6/10 (23 July 2004)

I give this sequel a marginal thumbs up, but I have two major problems.
I still have a headache from the first problem. The shooting style revives the trendy "shaky cam" which translates into "someone who can't hold the camera steady is shooting something supposedly spontaneous and compelling'". TV series and
commercials used this style to excess and has thankfully receded to only a few places. The big problem when you do the Shaky cam to excess, is that when EVERYTHING is "spontaneous and compelling" then NOTHING takes on greater urgency. When this type of shot is used sparingly (someone is shot and fighting for his life), you get that "Cops" kind of reality. This film takes it too far. As much as I believe a director should try to take chances and try to be original, you have to know when you are drawing too much attention to the style and distracting from the story. This is especially ineffective in the action scenes. But wait - that's when you SHOULD have that urgent kind of camerawork, right?. The problem is, the action scenes are shot in Super-Shaky Cam. I literally could not follow a big fight scene, and had a hard time appreciating the car chase because the frame was too blurry to make anything out.
This really disappoints me, because there is a good franchise in the works here. The gritty and smart Bourne shows a sharp focus on cutting to the chase and treats anything else as a waste of time. Joan Allen is the very apt CIA chief who refuses to look the other way, and she holds the screen with as much energy as Chris Cooper did in the first film. Brian Cox does a great job of giving you that "Oh God I'm screwed" look. The locations once again are rich in texture, no pretty shots of Red Square. I have to give the first film a better rating for one big reason - (*MINOR SPOILER*)
This film leaves Bourne chasing around to save himself without a nice looking girl by his side. The James Bond comparisons to this new kind of spy are more accurate when you get the hot chick into the mix. The lovely Julia Stiles only gets as much screen time as she did in the first, too bad.
(*END SPOILER*)
I give this a 6 out of 10.