Supremely nauseating

Rating: 1/10 (17 August 2004)

Brace yourself for motion sickness: there isn't one single static shot in this film, which would be all right if the nervous "style" served a purpose. Unfortunately, all is manages to accomplish is to make the viewer nauseous, a feeling compounded by the total lack of interest generated by both plot and characters. I love suspense and see nothing wrong with films whose sole ambition is to keep you on the edge of your seat, even if they wind up sacrificing realism in the process. But halfway through this one, I was rooting for the bad guys to kill Bourne and end this nightmarish experience.
Perhaps it's the newest trend to shoot every insignificant scene of a film from five different angles and edit it as if you suffered from Parkinson's disease. Reducing each shot to a nanosecond of screen-time is an effective way to hide any mistake or continuity break, as well as script deficiencies: the viewer simply does not have the time to spot the mistake or try and make sense of what's actually happening in a scene, and just doesn't care because nothing makes sense anyway. Even the car chases are so chopped up that they are devoid of thrill or interest. I couldn't wait to get home and watch Ronin.
The "trendy" director (and I use the term generously) of this supremely nauseating film really ought to revisit Hitchcock, whose approach was to figure out the ideal way to shoot a scene before getting on the set and to justify every camera movement. I doubt anyone will revisit the 2004 Bourne Supremacy unless they're masochistic.
Last time I felt as physically ill while watching a movie was during Woody Allen's "experimental" movie Husbands and Wives, where the camera's movement was designed to make you experience the characters' discomfort. It effectively induced nausea in a primary way: the sort you shake off when you leave the theater, vowing never to see that film again. Not a brilliant strategy in this day and age of "must own" movies. But then on a TV monitor, I expect the Bourne Supremacy won't be as annoying. Size does matter. And you'll even be able to freeze every frame to see all that is missing.