Could've been much more.

Rating: 5/10 (13 December 2004)

I recall watching the first of this series and being fairly impressed from a pure action movie point of view. The story was cut, the acting was decent, and the actions was intense. I guess that in this one, though, they tried to stick to the action bit alone. Whenever a sequel does this, they leave much to be desired with few exceptions. The story was basic and the portrayal was very choppy.
Damon has some acting ability. Granted, nothing may ever top his breakout performance, but he's not the worst I've seen. The script attempted to make him the 'strong, silent type'. He did the best he could with it, but your main character in a film such as this needs to at least have some character. they attempt to give him some at the very end of the film, but it's too little too late.
Another fatal error in a film like this is the obvious nature of the identity of the saboteur. The nature of the script, combined with the quality of mystery from those who were trying to find Bourne kinda left it in the hand of two people. One of which was so innocent in knowledge of the whole situation that she was clearly cast to be the apologetic misunderstander by the end of the movie. This came true as well.
In order to gain the 5/10 I gave this movie, though, was simply the car chase towards the end of the movie. Car chases have become extremely commonplace in action films, and due to this, have become rather monotonous. But the cinematography and chosen angles gave this one a new feel. Many of the explosive crashes and wild driving action was depicted from inside the cockpit of the cab Bourne is driving. Instead of the anticipation you receive from normal car chase scenes, where you can see from a distance what may or will occur, the surprise factor is terrific. You DON'T see it coming.
So, it's worth a watch if you've exasperated all possibilities of movies on your list of "movies to see", but until then, you may want to stay away.