Could Someone Please Stop the Room Spinning...?

Rating: 7/10 (30 August 2007)

The Bourne Supremacy was a great film - plot, performances, locales, action, all good - with only one real downfall; director Paul Greengrass seemed to have never heard of a steady-cam, leading to some very iffy camera work, especially during the fight sequences.
Three years on and Greengrass is still ignorant to that simple advancement in movie-making technology. Worse still, his camera-men seemed to constantly be in a state of abject terror, unable as they were to keep the camera still for more than three seconds. Worse *still*, every single over-the-shoulder shot drifted behind an actor's head so that half of the screen was obscured during conversations. It's as if, over the intervening period between Supremacy and Ultimatum, Greengrass has managed to forget what little he used to know about filming.
However, The Bourne Ultimatum *is* a good film. The story is again weaker than Identity, but satisfying and intriguing nonetheless, Matt Damon's performance is rock solid, as are those of the rest of the cast, and the action seemed fantastic (what could be made of it, that is).
It isn't worthy of the mass praise that's been heaped upon it and I would have liked to have seen Doug Liman stay on for the whole trilogy, but it's still a good end to a good trilogy. Just be wary if you suffer from epilepsy or motion sickness...