Motion Sickness - Wait for DVD

Rating: 6/10 (3 August 2007)

I am joining another reviewer here and will only see a Paul Greengrass film on a small screen. I previously complained about the shaky cam in my review of Bourne Supremacy, but could not condemn the film since everything else was done very well. This time, the shaky cam is now doing more to inject tense feelings into what could be a thin story. I sat in the fourth row, and had to frequently look away or down to keep my stomach from fluttering. I eventually had to walk out to relieve the nausea, only returning later by sitting in the very back of the theatre. Greengrass said he wanted to make essentially a smart popcorn film, and he has. He may even have come up with some clever enough scenes to dare and shoot them on a tripod once in a while. I'm afraid what he is really doing is ratcheting up his camera-work (that looks like it was done by a 5 year-old), thinking that it is necessary to outdo the previous film.
There is a great deal of evidence why; much time is taken to merely go over old material covered in the first two movies, the new CIA bad guys are like the old CIA bad guys, and NSA surveillance scenes are a dime a dozen nowadays. So it is only Bourne and his lightning fast action scenes that make this film worthwhile. I was thoroughly enjoying the intelligence they put into the set pieces, extending their potential and increasing the adrenaline. Also winning honors is the under-rated Joan Allen. Her intensity energises the screen, and provides a voice for the audience - rooting for her to save Jason and other colleagues from elimination.
Greengrass delivers on the popcorn part for sure, but gets an 'F' for over-using an over-rated camera technique. Instead of giving this film a thumbs down, however, I am recommending that you watch it only on a smaller screen.