Does not withstand repeated viewings

Rating: 6/10 (13 January 2011)

When I first saw this, I thought it to be among the most exciting things I'd seen, however at the second viewing, it seems contrived, ridiculous and frankly annoying. Yes, there is always a great deal of suspension of disbelief in a Bourne film as in a Bond film, but this stretches it beyond breaking point. Certain things, slightly off putting the first time round become more tiresome on the second. The shaky camera work for example and the over-the-top sequences actually seem less exciting for being so unrealistic. When the film maker is not bound by the rules of physics or the basics of human anatomy literally anything is possible. So we have characters who survive impossible crashes, walking away with barely a scratch. Both Bourne and another 'asset' survive an unbelievable collision (which Bourne survives by holding the seat belt tightly!) with only Bourne having a limp to show for it.
Nor does Bourne's abilities stop merely at being invulnerable. He also seems to possess vast knowledge beyond his ken such as a detailed knowledge of Waterloo station including back ways out of sweet shops, where they lead and other routes to get there. No one in these shops seems to object at someone walking through by the way. Being an 'asset' is one thing, but things like this require detailed knowledge not acute powers of observation.
One of the poorest scenes, which annoyed me even on first viewing, was how Bourne gets into the highly secure CIA building and out again undetected. This was a wasted opportunity for an action sequence, made worse by a pointless phone-call which Bourne tells the CIA chief what he's doing.
Another aspect is that the characters are poorly motivated. This is especially true of Nicky Parsons in this film, who oddly shows up out of nowhere them gives up her career and apparently is prepared to spend the rest of her life on the run, simply to help Bourne out. He must be one hell of a guy. We never find out what her motivation is, although possibly this will be revealed in another episode of this franchise I guess.