It isn't quite as compelling as the earlier trilogy, but The Bourne Legacy proves the franchise has stories left to tell -- and benefits from Jeremy Renner's magnetic work in the starring role.
It isn't quite as compelling as the earlier trilogy, but The Bourne Legacy proves the franchise has stories left to tell -- and benefits from Jeremy Renner's magnetic work in the starring role.
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Movie Info
The narrative architect behind the Bourne film series, Tony Gilroy, takes the helm in the next chapter of the hugely popular espionage franchise that has earned almost $1 billion at the global box office: The Bourne Legacy. The writer/director expands the Bourne universe created by Robert Ludlum with an original story that introduces us to a new hero (Jeremy Renner) whose life-or-death stakes have been triggered by the events of the first three films. For The Bourne Legacy, Renner joins fellow
series newcomers Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach and Oscar Isaac, while franchise veterans Albert Finney, Joan Allen, David Strathairn and Scott Glenn reprise their roles. -- (C) Universal
Perhaps the most interesting question arising from The Bourne Legacy is just how long the filmmakers hope to trade on the Bourne name without any, you know, Bourne.
Gilroy's a fine writer - he also penned Michael Clayton - but without the discipline of an action veteran like Greengrass to rein him in, he indulges his weakness to over-explain things.
The Bourne Legacy is one of Alfred Hitchcock's "refrigerator movies," in that it succeeds pretty well "in the moment" but starts to fall apart when considered in retrospect.
Tony Gilroy's involving and smart installment of the Bourne series comes to Blu-ray armed with a superb A/V transfer and a solid packing of extras from Universal.
If you can get past the distinct feeling that this is the Bourne B-team at work - Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass are nowhere to be found - you'll probably be able to enjoy this frenetic spy thriller for the guilty-pleasure romp that it is.
It couldn't ever hope to match the Paul Greengrass/Matt Damon movies for sheer punch and propulsion, but it's as close to replicating them as you could expect, and marks another excellent entry into the Bourneography.
There's a lot to like about The Bourne Legacy, but it's hard not to feel a little worried that the rich complexity of Ludlum's past work might be lost in the transition-and that's a legacy that really needs to be upheld.
"The Bourne Legacy" may not be the thriller the first three films managed to be. But, it's well written and very entertaining. Renner has become one of my favorite action stars.
The Bourne Legacy is the strangest sequel to come out of the Hollywood studio system in a long, long time. It's a product of shallow studio greed and staggering creative ineptitude.
Though the weakest of the series, "The Bourne Legacy" is not a throw-away action film. It's one of the best thrillers of the year and a sure bet on the future success of the "Bourne" franchise.
Renner and Weisz make an entertaining action-movie odd couple, the terse man of action and the chatty scientist who learns fast how to react when the shooting starts.
(Renner) has the required intensity and physicality to make his character-a highly-trained, genetically enhanced undercover agent-completely believable.
Tony Gilroy takes the helm to direct the 4th installment of the Bourne series with Legacy. He's known for strong writing and taking a dab at directing with "Michael Clayton" (which is an incredible movie). With an all new protagonist, new side story, and new director, "The Bourne Legacy" is, without a doubt, an ambitious and risky addition. Without the deft hands and vision of action-movie veteran, Paul Greengrass, I was skeptical about how "Legacy" would churn out its adrenaline-pumping nature, but I was caught by surprise by how "The Bourne Legacy" delivers frenetic, cut-to-cut action sequences -- albeit, not enough and not as well. However, "Legacy" is by far, the worst installment of any of the Bournes. No, it's not the subpar action contrasting to the likes of Greengrass; it's not because the writing and characters are uninteresting; it's merely because the narrative suffers from linear and uninteresting plot points. With a premise consisting of the aftermath of Bourne's actions and how these actions affects the rest of the assets within the program, it would seem like a hugely entertaining film. But this premise isn't fully elaborated on.
In the end, "The Bourne Legacy" is a good film, not a great one. Coupled with charismatic performances from the likes of Jeremy Renner and Edward Norton, the typical sharp writing that is to be expected from the Bourne series, and riveting action set-pieces, "Legacy" doesn't disappoint in the entertainment department. But will it leave a lasting impression like the previous installments. Nowhere near so.
Good movie! Jeremy Renner is a talented actor with serious range and complexity. However, the character he plays is not much of a character and the script that he has to work with is riddled with clich� after clich�. He can do anything a secret agent can do but better but the character is not very compelling or interesting to say the least. Jason Bourne was a compelling character that needed to find himself and through that journey in the original trilogy, we saw complexities that were compelling and thoughtful. He was a conflicted man whose drive was dictated by an inner sense of redemption. The character of Aaron Cross is a cartoon character compared to Jason and that is the main problem of the script for this movie. It is though Renner's efforts as an actor that we care about the character of Aaron Cross and that is one of the few bright spots this film has. Renner injects likability and vulnerability to this character and because of it, we want him to succeed in beating the bad guy and save the girl but Renner is working with a script that goes against itself and we are left with a half fast story that deals with supermen than a human story about survival. It is through Renner's efforts as an actor that we see humanity and conflict in this character while the script itself does not give that sort of detail and Renner is working overtime to accomplish that. Renner would have done wonders with a compelling character like Jason Bourne, unfortunately that is not found with the character of Aaron Cross.
Rachel Weisz is one of the most versatile, gifted and complex actors working today. An actor's actor in every sense of word but like Renner, she does not have much of a character thanks to the clich� script they both have to work with. Her character is on the run with Cross through out the film and acts as his doctor and object of protection. It is through Weisz's amazing strength and range as an actor that we are able to witness levels of complexity and humanity in the character of Dr Marta Shearing that we really do not get from the script. Because of that, we are not only able to care and identify with her but Weisz actually makes her character more complex and interesting than Aaron Cross himself. You can tell that Weisz was working overtime in achieving that and her efforts pay off ten fold, which is a blessing considering that most of the characters outside of her and Renner come across as cardboard cutouts.
Renner and Weisz do their best to remake a film which was already pretty great. Yes, they have new names and faces, but they are running from the same agency, dodging the same bullets, but this time they have a higher chromosomal level on their side. The Bourne Legacy will be known as that film which derailed the very respectable Bourne franchise. Paul Greengrass, the director of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, was correct when he said any further film would feel like The Bourne Redundancy.
The events in this movie takes place around the same time that the events in The Bourne Ultimatum. When a British reporter was writing an expose about Black Ops operations Treadstone and Black Briar, and the ones responsible for them are concerned. And when Jason Bourne, former Treadstone operative got the file on Treadstone and Black Briar and gave it to Pamela Landy who them passed it to the media. When the men behind Treadstone and Black Briar learn of this, they're concerned how this will affects other ops they have. They decide it's best to shut down all ops and make sure make everyone involved disappears. They try to take out Aaron Cross who is part of another op called Outcome, but he manages to survive. He then seeks out Dr. Marta Shearing who worked on him when he began. It seems part of the program is for all subjects to take medications but he has run out, which is why he seeks her. But someone tries to kill her. He saves her and she tells him, he should have stopped taking the meds long ago. They go to Manila so that she can help him. Later the men behind Outcome learn that Cross and Shearing are still alive. They try to get them.
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