Matt Damon

So, I normally try not to hate too much on things that are totally awesome, but this has been bugging me for a long time. The Bourne Identity movies are bad-ass. At least I think they are. It's kind of hard to tell because the camera is always bouncing around so much that 99% of my energy is spent avoiding vomiting from motion sickness, which leaves a scant 32% of my massive intellect remaining to enjoy the movie. Don't get me wrong, I think they really are great movies, and Matt Damon does a great job, I just really wish I could see what is going on. Clearly, the choreography for the fight scenes is fantastic, and the chase scenes are second to none, I just really wish it was all viewable. The reason this really bothers me is because I went to see the Bourne Ultimatum with my aunt, uncle and cousins over the summer, and Molly literally had to leave about 20 minutes in because the camera work was making her sick. I blame Oliver Wood, who did the cinematography for the movie (also worth noting is the chuckle I had when, while reading over all the crew to decide who was most deserving of my scorn , I came across Florian Emmerich who [hilariously] operated the steadycam). I just don't understand why such good movies had to be ruined by such terrible cinematography. It is, however, humorous to imagine the camera men(/women) running around the set, chasing after Matt Damon and shaking their cameras like they're covered with fire ants... In case you haven't seen the movies, I decided to provide you with a clip below so you can see what I'm talking about. If you look really closely, my hand makes a short cameo - think of it as a sort of Easter egg for the fans out there.


I almost hate to bring this up, but another great movie was nearly ruined by this same problem, though it was less of an issue on this one: Batman Begins. If anyone can describe to me what exactly is happening in some of those fight scenes, I'll shut up, but nobody can, so don't try. I can understand directors wanting the audience to feel like they're "in the action," but it seems like they would also want audiences to "be able to watch their movies."