Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) has a problem: He desperately wants to know who he really is and what happened to him (or more specifically, who made him the way he is). The Bourne Ultimatum also has a problem: It is an action film where the dialog and non-action moments are far more interesting than the action sequences. The Bourne Ultimatum, and its predecessor, The Bourne Supremacy, should be required study for all film directors on how not to make an action movie.

The Bourne Identity set up the premise for these films by introducing us to Damon’s character shortly after a failed mission. Jason Bourne can’t remember who he is or what he’s capable of doing to other human beings, and that sets the stage for a plethora of chase scenes, fight sequences, and close calls; just the perfect cocktail for an action franchise. But more than that, The Bourne Identity also set the standard for our expectations in regards to this character and this world. Identity was a perfectly filmed action movie. The dialog, acting, writing and directing were just as good as the action scenes themselves. Identity was a complete package, and director Doug Liman understood how to make it so.

Paul Greengrass, the director for Ultimatum and its predecessor, Supremacy, does not understand how to film an action movie. That is not to say he doesn’t know how to tell a story or direct a movie (there are some very excellent story elements/plot twists in Supremacy, and Ultimatum does not disappoint in that regard), just that he specifically does not know how to film it. His camera work is the worst in the industry.

For reasons that I cannot begin to comprehend, Hollywood directors, Greengrass chief among them, have taken to a particular visual style for filming action sequences. This style involves the use of a hand-held camera at close range. The overall effect of this technique is that action scenes are incredibly shaky, blurry, undefined and utterly disappointing. You may hear people refer to this as the “shaky-cam”. It would more aptly be named the “I don’t want you to see what I just filmed” cam.

It says something about an action film when the quiet moments, plot twists and dialog shine much more brightly than the action sequences themselves. It speaks of a failure to understand the genre.

There are moments during The Bourne Ultimatum when the action is so intense and the potential for thrills so great that we can sense, with a high amount of frustration, how incredibly great this film would be if only Greengrass would stop using the damn shaky cam. This is the first action movie I can recall watching where the blurred images became so hard to follow that I eventually gave up and just waited for the next ’slow’ moment in the film to come along so I could actually make out what I was looking at on screen.

The horrible quality of the camera work becomes even more glaring when one slips a DVD in for The Bourne Identity, or the most recent James Bond film, Casino Royale. The directors for both of those movies understood how to actually use a camera for the action scenes. (Go back and watch the Parkour chase in Casino Royale and then watch any sequence in Ultimatum. The contrast is stark).

As if the poorly executed action scenes weren’t enough to blemish the film, it also fails in a couple other areas. Julia Stile’s character, for instance, is completely underutilized to the point where one wonders why she was in the movie to begin with. There is a minor story arc between her and Jason Bourne that is implied, but never explored, and we feel a bit cheated that Greengrass never does anything with it.

Finally, the big secrets of the movie lack impact. When they are revealed they come across as really weak, unable to support the plot engine that requires all of the running and killing. After three movies worth of secrets, we’re left scratching our heads, asking ourselves, “That’s the reason they’re trying to kill Jason Bourne? Are you kidding me?”

In the hands of another director (maybe even Identitie’s Liman) these films could be instant classics in the action movie genre. Instead, Supremacy and Ultimatum are merely visual annoyances. Try holding your eyelids open as long as you can, until they dry out. You’ll get the same effect.