Very good but not as good as The Bourne Identity

Rating: 8/10 (26 July 2004)

Overall very good but a few minor flaws.
One in particular was the way that the hand to hand combat scenes are shot - much too close up. In The Bourne Identity, the audience can see Bourne's martial arts techniques and in this film you are given the sense of his limbs moving quickly and the opponents are responding (or not) but we have to take it on faith that Bourne's moves are convincing and effective. In the first Bourne film we can see it for ourselves and if you didn't see the first one you might not. Since we know that Matt Damon can do the moves then why not show them to us (with a wider shot).
Conclusions: 1. This film is very entertaining but you must see The Bourne Identity before seeing this one to fully appreciate this one.
2. Bring back Doug Liman as director (I liked his pacing better, you can better see Bourne's logistical mechanics and it is less simply bang-bang-chase-chase).
3. I can't wait for the next Bourne installment (if there is a good intelligent screenplay,...).