decent sequel, but far from perfect

Rating: 6/10 (28 January 2005)

SPOILERS Some actors are forever branded with popular roles. If a man plays James Bond or something similar, people look at them and see the character. In the future, the same will probably be true of Matt Damon. Staring once again in 2004 as Jason Bourne, Damon put in a great performance, delivering an often intense and always unnerving piece of acting. Sadly however, the film itself suffered from certain key flaws, not least some errors in judgement from director Paul Greengrass.
Jason Bourne is happy and living in India. Spending his time with love Marie (Franka Potente), he keeps an ever vigil eye on surroundings as he continues to evade the authorities. When an incident in Germany results in two deaths however, Bourne is seen as the culprit and once more he is forced to fight back against the Government who created him.
"The Bourne Identity" was a wonderful film. Whilst apparently different to the books, it contained enough intrigue and plot to keep the audience focused throughout. Therefore there was understandably a lot of expectation riding on this second feature. Sadly though, whilst the first film featured a decent performance by Doug Liman behind the camera, in this sequel he was replaced by the relatively inexperienced Greengrass. Greengrass, directing one of his first major films, to a degree follows the approaches of the original film. For vast quantities of time, the films are practically inseparable. Sadly though, anytime there is a moment of high speed action, Greengrass's direction ruins it. The reasoning behind this is that admirably the director chose to abandon special effects in favour of a gritty, hand-held camera style. This is an admirable idea, but it means that for segments, most notably the car chase towards the end, the camera shakes from side to side and gives the audience a feeling of nausea.
Truthfully, Greengrass's direction very nearly destroys any standards that the first film set. This sequel is saved however by Tony Gilroy's adapted plot (although supposedly nothing like the books) and a fine performance by Damon.
One key aspect springs out in this film which shows just how clever Matt Damon can be as Bourne. About three quarters of the way through the film, Bourne is once again on the run, when he is forced to make an awkward jump. From his landing, it is clear that Bourne injures his leg, and whilst in so many films, most notably the James Bond series, this injury might be forgotten, for the remainder of this story, Bourne limps. This shows a key devotion to attention and detail since the injury is to all degrees, irrelevant. If Bourne was simply able to walk again, nothing would be different in the story, he would simply walk normally. For Damon though to continue to limp, it shines through as a mark of clever acting.
There are definite flaws in this second section of the Bourne stories. With awkward, albeit well meaning, direction by Paul Greengrass, the film suffers from some truly stomach churning camera operation. Despite this though, the story remains enthralling throughout, with Matt Damon doing a particularly impressive job as Bourne. Not quite as good as it's predecessor, but a worthy addition to Matt Damon's CV.