Next time you use a shaky camera, Paul Greengrass...

Rating: 9/10 (24 July 2004)

I will personally bring a fight to your doorstep! Way to go ahead & ruin the best new action franchise in recent movie history, buddy. What a truly awful exercise in jerky camera action this movie was!
Let me get this out of the way...I am a very very big fan of the first movie. Even though most of the cast and the taut & compelling script about the quest of Jason Bourne for his identity return in the sequel, the movie is ruined by the camera jerking in every possible direction *every half second*, during the action sequences. This shaky camera action, used recently in the amazing "24" TV series, seems to be every director's favorite play toy now. And in a high-octane thriller like "Supremacy..", it ruins the whole movie for you. The recent "Man on Fire" was almost ruined by this technique but was saved because of Denzel's presence.
What was so good about the "Bourne Identity" was that you got a bird's eye view of all the action. The camera is sitting still, high above the actors & you see everything they are doing. Imagine this: Instead of seeing how Jason scaled down the wall of the consulate & seeing how high he was & how dangerous a stunt it would be if tried in real life, you see quick cuts of Jason's fingers holding onto the bricks, of his eyes looking either way, of his nostrils flaring, etc. (not the whole scene but parts of the scene), all in quick half-second bursts, **FOR THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE CLIMBING-DOWN-WALL SCENE!** Instead of getting a high-point view of the Mini careening through the narrow streets, you see Jason & Marie flinching, the Mini's exhaust pipe blowing smoke, etc. all in quick half-second bursts, **FOR THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE CHASE!**
That is how the action scenes in 'Supremacy' are shot. I couldn't see *one* kick or punch during the fight scene in the Berlin apartment. I couldn't see *one" high-angle shot of what was happening during the car chase! Alright, there was a one-second high-angle shot of Kirill's SUV side swiping Jason's car, in the car chase. But that's it! The camera jerks around so constantly that you have *ZERO CLUE* about what's happening. I stood in line for an hour to buy the tickets for 'Supremacy' & this is the visual disaster I had to endure in every one of the action sequences.
That doesn't mean there's nothing good about the movie. Matt Damon plays his part of the troubled assassin to perfection. We see his inner ordeal & his pain. The locales are drop-dead gorgeous & the remaining cast, in whatever little time they get, are very competent.
I highly recommend the movie, but CLOSE YOUR EYES SHUT DURING THE ACTION SCENES. Let's hope that on the DVD, they will replace the "Director's Commentary" with a pre-editing version of all the action sequences. If Greengrass is the director of the third Bourne movie (I highly doubt there will be one after seeing this), I'll catch you on video, Jason!