Ruined by a gimmick

Rating: 8/10 (26 July 2004)

I really only have two complaints about the Bourne Supremacy - it was too short and the gimmick of the hand held, in and out of focus camera work was very disturbing and distracting. Let's face it, The Bourne Supremacy was never intended to win an Oscar, it it probably won't. But what it was designed to do was to entertain, and it does succeed, at times better than the original. Matt Damon returns and does a great job playing the 'every man' assassin. Matt is convincing in his physical portrayal as Bourne, Joan Allen is also good as the CIA manager, and Brian Cox is his usual swarmy self.
The fight and chase scenes were well choreographed, but were lost in the camera work. By the time your mind and eyes had adjusted to the camera movement, much of the scene was over. Had they shot the sequel as they had the original, The Bourne Supremacy would have been a much better movie. Let's hope they get all of the bugs worked out when they do the third installment.