Camera work ruined this movie.

Rating: Null/10 (25 July 2004)

When I think of the Bourne Identity, I think about what I liked, what made that movie stand out. A big part of that is the lethalness imbued in the character, Jason Bourne. All of his movements are exact, quick, he was always in control. He's not a huge Arnold type guy, he's not Chow Yun Fat martial arts, he's of normal build, so you get the feeling that he is deadly by his movements and actions. By the way he appears always in control, calm, cool and collected. That's what I was looking for in this movie, and it failed to give it, not because of Matt Daimon or action, but the stupid friggin camera work.
The camera work is so bad in this movie, it is hard to concentrate on what is going on, it is so distracting. In a fight scene, something happens, but because the camera is bobbing around, you can't tell what the heck happened.
He's in a car chase, and you her a crashing noise, and the camera is shaking a lot, but you have no clue what happened. Something red flew by, but no clue what it was. The camera is always up close, right in the actors face. Even normal scenes, the bobbing camera begins to make you seasick.
One of the highlights of The Bourne Identity was when one of the other agents crashes through the window and a fight ensues between him and Bourne.
Both are exact, quick, lethal killers. Blows are exchanged fast, at one point Bourne stabs the guy three quick times with a pen. And all of that can be seen, because the camera is 10 feet away, watching the action. In a similar scene, Bourne fights with Jarda (Agent who caps Conklin in the end of Identity), but you can't tell what the heck is going on. You hear blows, you hear crashing, but the camera is bouncing around all over the place, inches from the actors. It's so freakin stupid.
The same with the car chase scene, the camera doesn't pan out enough. It doesn't scan ahead, or show things crashing through debris from more than a foot away. It's lame.
The story is believable, and the writing is good. I enjoyed that part of it, I enjoyed that part of the movie. It was surprising that Maria died in the beginning, but it added to the lethalness or brutality of these assassins.
I could understand the jerkiness of the camera in the flashback scenes. But other than that there is no need for it. It was obvious that this was a different director about 3 minutes into the movie. This guy needs to go back to film school and get back to the point of putting things on film. It is so we can see them. If I wanted to use my imagination about what was happening, I would have read the book. I want to see it, not try and figure out what is happening. And that's exactly what I had to do at the end of the movie, when Bourne and Kirill are in the car chase. Because it was so unclear as to what was happening, I had to think about what he was doing to figure out how it made sense with what was going on on screen. I don't mind thinking movies, but it shouldn't be an action movie, trying to figure out how the main character is doing what he's doing in the middle of an action scene.
This is one DVD I will not buy. It's a shame too, it had great potential. If they could re-shoot, re-edit, whatever to get rid of the bobbing camera and add third person point of view shots, yeah I'd get it. But that woln't happen.
Writing & Acting: A+ Matt Damon makes a great job.
Camera work & Dircting: F The director needs to go to film school.