An Okay Script Ruined By Terrible Camera Work

Rating: 6/10 (15 August 2016)

I'm on the third of the initial Bourne Trilogy movies as I prep for "Jason Bourne", and that has brought me to "The Bourne Ultimatum", a film I had not seen since it was first in theaters in 2007. I remember thinking at the time that the camera work was troubling for me. It was even more so seeing it on Blu Ray. At the time I gave the movie 8/10 stars, but on this second viewing I have to go with only six.
This film is a direct sequel to "The Bourne Supremacy", and picks up exactly where that film picks up. The script is okay, but not great. I won't go into details so as not to write a spoiler, but the film centers around Jason Bourne uncovering more about his past life, and the climax of the movie is sort of the big reveal about that past life--and that big reveal was, to me, pretty hokey. The whole thing felt forced, and a bit like a caricature, or something you expect from a comic book character rather than a spy movie.
But the real thing that kills this movie is its terrible camera work. I get that it was the mid-2000's and the whole jittery camera technique was a thing, but goodness is it ever annoying. And the overwhelming majority of the film uses this technique. It makes you feel like you're on a ride at an amusement park, and it just doesn't work for me at all. I might have given this film seven or eight stars had it not been for the camera work, but that nuisance drops this movie down to a six. It's good, but not great--and a step down from "The Bourne Supremacy".