Bourne Ultimatum

I just watched the Bourne Ultimatum and have to say it was fantastic. If you've seen the first 2, then you know what to expect. More government conspiracies, more revelations about Bourne's past, more action, more everything. I can't really put my finger on exactly what it was, but this to me was a far more engaging plot than the first 2 movies. Maybe it was that we finally get enough background on Jason Bourne that the pieces are finally starting to fall into place. Maybe it was that they humanized him more in this episode, made him a more sympathetic character - the assassin with a heart of gold. I don't quite know, I just know it was good.

On the negative side, I will say that they way overused my biggest pet peeve currently the fad in action movies - the shaky handheld camera. I can't begin to tell you how much I hate that. First of all, you can't tell at all what is going on in any fight scene. You might as well just close your eyes and imagine something happening. It's annoying enough on a tv at home, on a theater screen, it can be downright disorienting. It's not as bad in scenes when they are just following someone down the hall or something, but it's still exceptionally annoying to have the entire screen shaking around.

One last unrelated note: as I watched, I couldn't help thinking about how different the careers have gone for buddies Matt Damon and Ben Afflek. Ever since they became big names in Good Will Hunting, Matt Damon has been able to consistently land roles in good solid movies, while Ben Afflek has done crap after crap. My point? I hate Ben Afflek. Not much more to it than that.