Will someone please get a sober cameraman?

Rating: 5/10 (28 February 2010)

Oh dear! I watched this tonight after hearing much of the hype surrounding the title, the BAFTA awards and the upcoming Oscars. I have read many reviews about how the director draws the viewer into the picture and how shredded my nerves would be after watching it. What I actually found was that once again the studio has employed a camera operator suffering with severe Parkinsons disease! Why this method of camera work is now the norm is completely beyond me. As a consequence, I just found myself distracted from the story by the frustration of shaky images. I have to ask why it's necessary, when the actors are moving down an alleyway toward the camera, to zoom in then out then in again? If this is to give a sense of realism, I'm missing the point. My eyes don't work like that when I'm walking about, so why have it in the film?
I can't believe that I'm the only one that gets wound up by this utterly pointless, and seemingly amateurish, camera work. It completely destroys the enjoyment of anything I watch that has it. I sincerely wish the studios would stop.
A message to Kathryn Bigelow. I don't know whether or not you'll win the best director award, but I genuinely hope you don't. You don't deserve it for delivering what is basically celluloid motion sickness.