I wanted to start off by saying that I would have easily given this movie a 3.5 or possibly a 4 out of five stars if it weren’t for the awful, horrible, idiotic, lame, annoying, disturbing, mind-boggling, dizzying, terrible camera work. And because of the nauseating, not to mention annoyed feeling I had afterwards I am unhappy to report I cannot give this movie more than a 2.

I personally think Matt Damon is an amazing actor. He is fun to watch, he acts the part he is in very well, regardless of what movie. I just wish he would catch his break to become a star, rather than an “upcoming” star. It seems like he has been an upcoming star for many, many years. This coulda’, woulda’, shoulda’ been the one that did that. The first movie “The Bourne Identity” was a very well conceived and adapted movie from a very interesting book. The movie spawned about 3 or 4 spin-off TV shows, and has inspired a whole slew of other new ideas on TV and in the movies. It was something new and refreshing and a great idea for a movie. It was a sleeper however. One of those movies that most walked into the movie with low expectations and really had no idea what the movie was about, and not too many walked out of the theater with disappointed looks on their faces. It was a great film. If I remember correctly I believe I gave it a 3 out of 5, (which considering all the other films out there, that is a pretty darn good rating for a movie that I don’t remember seeing a single preview or trailer for and with a cast of actors and actresses that were just barely beginning to mold their names into Hollywood.)

This movie was given very good reviews and the trailers looked great, and the poster even looked intriguing. The critics were right, it was a very good movie. But it’s a big, big shame that I am going to spend the bulk of this review bagging on the filming. I have to believe that they must have done it all on purpose. Because as unsteady as I am personally with a camcorder, I cannot imagine being as bad as this was on screen. Imagine watching home movies by a member of the family with Parkinson’s Disease. Mind you, I poke fun of the disease in no way at all, but only of the movie itself.

I understand some points of some movies doing this. You would add that type of filming for only a couple of reasons. First, to add a sense of panic, horror, or hurried suspense. A very good example is a movie which I love more and more each time I watch it. Tom Clancy’s “The Sum of all Fears”. There was the point of the film just before the nuclear bomb went off in that football stadium, and they rushed the President out, and the camera followed them off the field, down the dark hallway, and into the limousine. It was shaking all over the place and it added to the drama and the suspense of the moment. A point in which is just a thumbs up to the director because the point came across beautifully. This film however… man alive I can hardly speak of it, it was just that awful. From the beginning to end it was as if they were filming it during an earthquake. The humorous parts of the film, and I kid you not…my wife and I looked at each other and started laughing, were the parts where the camera focused on something with words on it. It was very clear that the director wanted us to know what was written on the paper, or what the sign read on the billboard, or what the name of the hotel was, but it was very UNclear onscreen because the camera was all over the place. What is equally hilarious is that the most calming shots of the whole film were that taken via aerial shots from a helicopter or some other flying object. Just as a panoramic view to get a feel of where you are in the film and see the surroundings. These are the shots that are generally the shakiest in a movie.

The only sense of rest I was able to give my eyes was during the movie about 6 or 7 times I looked out at the audience. Not because I wanted to see their reaction or to see how crowded the theater was, but to give my eyes some calming rest. There were times where there was no suspense, no dramatic sequence or anything happening on the screen and there were simply just one or two people talking… in a room… alone… Yet the camera bounced as fluently as if it were in the middle of a fight scene.

That’s another point… the fight scenes, and especially the car chases, which I would have to admit were probably some of the best car chasing scenes and fight scenes every construed into a movie. However you will notice the word “Probably” in that sentence even after I have watched the movie first hand. I say PROBABLY because the filming was so wild and outrageous that I had no clue as to what was going on, who was chasing who, who was hitting who, who’s dead, who’s car just crashed or what? Not to mention also that the camera was zoomed in so tightly to the characters that I could have counted the eyelashes on each of the characters… I didn’t know which actor it was, but lo! I could count them! I am so mad at the director for doing this because this really was a very well put together movie…story-wise. The actors did a great job, the music was very intriguing and suspenseful, and the story was put together nicely and it was a good thriller. But you destroy all that work with the simple flick of the wrist… or in this case the MANY flicks of the wrist while not knowing the record button is on or something. Because of this I can honestly say that I will never buy this movie or see it again.

After a while, I just began staring at a single spot on the screen and let my peripheral take in what was happening, because my eyes were hurting from darting around so much. I was literally rubbing my eyes the entire drive home because they were so worn out and it felt as if I hadn’t slept in days.

I haven’t read the book, but I would strongly suggest reading the book and skipping the movie completely. If you do want to risk the movie itself, I would strongly suggest taking some Dramamine and a couple of barf bags.

What a waste. That is all I can say about this film that should have been and actually WAS a great movie. Imagine if you will, The Lord of the Rings in all of its greatness in cast, music, storyline and computer animation, and even the wonderful Director…but filmed by a 10-year-old on an 8-mm camera. (With no tripod, mind you.) What a waste.