Good Movie but Nauseating Camera Work

Rating: 6/10 (9 July 2007)

The hand-held camera was overused and far too distracting. A major part of the beauty of the first movie (Bourne Identity) is that the viewer was able to actually see Bourne's fighting skills. The camera work used by director Greengrass made it extremely hard to appreciate the main character's training as an assassin. The camera always seemed to be jostling around, as if the cameraman was having a seizure. The closeup work during the internet café scene was especially annoying. Were we supposed to be snooping as we looked at the screen over Bourne's shoulder? The character never would have tolerated someone that close. Online research can be pretty dull, so was this simply an attempt by Greengrass to liven up this scene? Hopefully Greengrass won't duplicate this sloppy, nauseating camera work in the next movie "The Bourne Ultimatum." Let the action carry the scene and stop trying to dial it up a notch.