Disappointing as a sequel

Rating: 9/10 (24 May 2006)

I can't help but compare this to it's predecessor, and I'm afraid it just doesn't come up to scratch. I note a change of director and I wonder if this is the reason - parts of the film are certainly badly shot, and the car chase is almost unwatchable due to constant cutting, stupid camera angles etc. It made me feel sick for all the wrong reasons. I think this is a classic case of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' and The Bourne Identity certainly wasn't broke (I'd have it in my all-time top 5 movies.) Where the Identity hit you hard and fast and kept running at a frantic pace, constant adrenalin-rush and thrills combined with great plot, this lumbers along in fits and starts. For me it gets off to the worst possible start with the death of one of the two main characters, though others will say this is beneficial to the story. The first real action takes a whopping 30 minutes to materialize, and then it's all stop-start until the ending where suddenly it decides to replicate the first movie by signing-off with Moby's 'Extreme Ways' - happily this is one of my favourite songs, but it's not enough to make me believe this movie is in any way comparable to the first.
Don't get me wrong - this is still a very good and enjoyable movie. But it could, and should, have been very much better. Damon looks overweight, tired, and struggles to convey the same highly-tuned killing machine we saw in Identity. Maybe that's just being realistic, and we don't really know what he's been up to since the first movie ended. But the lack of the de-humanized, automaton-like weapon angle that made the first movie so sharp and exciting, means this has to rely on plot and action. Both are decidedly average, and the idea of Bourne on a bloody, destructive chase across Europe just so he can tell some girl he killed her parents, is bordering on silly.
I can't help but feel this was a (sadly typical) cynical attempt to cash-in on a truly great film. Maybe Franka Potente got-off lightly by getting killed after 20 minutes! I still rate it as above average, and Damon is one of my favourite actors. Sorry but I don't hold out much hope for Ultimatum with Greengrass in charge. Note to Doug Liman - please get back in your director's chair!