Don't waste your time....

Rating: 3/10 (7 August 2004)

The Bourne Identity was an excellent movie. Unfortunately, the sequel does not follow suit.
This movie has (somehow) gotten overwhelmingly good reviews that I just cannot agree with. There are two main problems that just GLARED at me throughout the whole movie. The first, and most obvious, was a camera that NEVER stopped shaking. Some of you that claim to have depth as reviewers praise it as adding to the tension and suspense of the movie. Example:
"Just like Bourne doesn't know what is going on, the audience doesn't know what is going on!!!"
I didn't pay money to watch a blur on the screen. Maybe other reviewers were taking hallucinogens that made the blurs REALLY interesting.
What's worse is the action isn't the only part plagued by shaking-camera syndrome - IT'S THE WHOLE MOVIE!!! What in the hell were the people that made this movie thinking?? This must have been what the board meeting looked like:
"Okay, well we are going to be making a sequel to The Bourne Identity. I think we should make it more intense and hardcore than the original." "Well, we received praise on our camera manipulating technique from the first movie. It's edgy, it's witty; it's shaky-cam." "Okay I have an idea - we will use shaky-cam in this one too, but a lot more this time!" "So like in the action scenes?" "No, think bigger, action scenes and conversation scenes too!!! MUHAHAHAHA"
"Yeah those idiots will really eat it up and give it good reviews!" (evil laughter of boardroom) "Best of all, we save on having to hire a choreographer for fight scenes, since no one will know what is going on anyways." "We can also do a chase scene in one take!" "We have some good ideas so far, but how do we make the movie more 'hardcore'?" "I saw a camera technique i really liked in the first Austin Powers. It was when Dr. Evil said 'ONE MILLION DOLLARS!' and the camera did a quick jerky zoom in. Now that's hardcore!" "NOW WE'RE TALKING!"
Yeah, I have to comment on those jerky zoom-ins during conversations. I know they were trying to make it seem as if there was tension - or something... It was seriously lame.
Okay.... the next problem is the casting of Landy. She is just not credible as a character. Not once did I think that she was the type of lady that would hold a position of that sort. When she acted, I saw acting instead of a character. I know those zoom-ins were supposed to make her look hard and like someone that gets to the bottom of things, but I just wanted to cry.
The plot was a C- and the overall movie pulled down to an F by the directing. I know it is tough to make a sequel, but these guys didn't even try.
Save this one as a rental. Maybe the shaky-cam won't give you such a headache when the screen isn't so big.