The only sequence that the shaky shots and quick cut-aways didn't work for was the fight between Bourne and the other Treadstone agent, Jarda (Marton Csokas); I wanted to follow it so badly, but there was just no way at some points... A shame, really, but a small one in the context of the whole movie.
The pace of this story was unreal. I was just able to keep ahead of it, thanks to proper pauses for emphasis and reflection, but only just. There was no way that the director, Paul Greengrass, was going to waste one shot; you could just tell. (For example, there's a brief shot of Bourne looking at a poster on a wall, and later on you learn that he picked the location and time of a meeting based on the protest that it was advertising - solely based on similar images, mind you. He makes nothing easy, this Greengrass guy.)
I was also impressed by the smarts behind the CIA. It's common to see the agency bungling operations and agents, risking civilian lives and blowing massive budgets. This movie didn't stoop to that level, though: an operation went south, but you believed that it was because those responsible for the attack were that good, and that Landy (Joan Allen) had done everything in her power to prevent it. The exception to this rule was the team's remaining in the very same room of the building where Bourne made them, even as Landy is saying she wants physical security double checked; get away from the f***ing windows, morons! That aside, it made the movie all the more exciting to know that Bourne was up against not one, but two, competent enemies.
Boy, was it exhausting, though: you had to concentrate for long periods of time to keep those shots in focus. I bet that added to the urgency of the whole production, though; no doubt.
