I went and checked out The Bourne Legacy this past weekend and I was eager to see what direction the franchise would be going in since Matt Damon was not involved in this particular picture. Jeremy Renner (The Avengers & M.I.4: Ghost Protocol) has taken over in the series as Aaron Cross an elite special agent who along with other is marked for death when the CIA program they are involved in is shut down due to the events of the previous three Bourne films.
I will say that I am a fan of the Bourne movie series so I was a little disappointed to hear that Matt Damon was not going to be in this movie. The moment I heard he wasn’t in it then I thought to myself there was no point in me seeing this film….then I saw the trailer with up and coming action star Jeremy Renner and I decided to give the movie a chance.
Pro’s
The storyline in this movie is very intricate as to how it relates to the previous three Bourne films. This story is a direct result of what happened with Jason Bourne and what he exposed with his constant digging and searching for the truth about his identity. You don’t need to watch the first three movies either to understand what his going on here either. I love the way director Tony Gilroy brought the audience into the Bourne world and introduced several new characters and maintained the same feel and tone of the other Bourne projects. In the beginning you can tell that Renner’s character will be up against long odd’s by the fact that he is out in the wilderness alone in the snow and cold– and I felt like that was an amazing visual metaphor for what he would face later in the movie.
I was very impressed with the acting in the film across the board, Jeremy Renner was excellent in the role of Aaron Cross. Rachel Weisz along with Ed Norton did exceptionally well in their respective supporting roles. I was particularly impressed with Ed Norton and the way he fluidly is able to become the sneaky, caniving CIA director who will stop at nothing to have everyone killed to cover his own ass. The relentlessness that he showed was subtle but very aggressive also. There is a part early in the movie when they send a drone airplane to fire a missile into the cabin that Aaron Cross and another agent are occupying and he makes it out just in the nick of time– truthfully I saw it coming because I’m a huge fan of “spy” and espionage and high stakes films– but this moment is what really jump started the storyline.
I will say that writer/director Tony Gilroy did a great job of mixing in the action sequences as well as genuinely moving the storyline forward and leaving out certain parts to give it the whole “mystery” feel too. That is key to making a good spy action movie in my book. He uses the proper amount of cutting back and forth between flashbacks and present day to where you can follow what’s going on and not be confused. He mixed in a great deal of unpredictable scenes that left the audience on edge. He even took a chance and delivered what in this day and age could be considered a very controversial scene– a work place random shooting massacre!
As stated the Treadstone Project and Blackbriar are being shut down- and not only are the agents out in the field being terminated but also the scientist who developed the green and blue genetic physical and mental enhancement pills that they take– are also being killed too. In a scene straight out of everyone’s nightmare a coworker at a research lab comes into work, locks the doors behind him by taking the handle off the door and begins walking around and shooting everyone with a high powered gun. Rachel Wiesz’s character Dr. Marta Shearing is the only scientist who survives…but she soon realizes that this was an inside job orchestrated by the CIA when they come to her home and try to kill her again and make it look like a suicide. I applaud director Tony Gilroy and the studio Universal and Relativity Media for keeping that scene and making it as realistic and terrifying as it is.
The scope of the movie is very large as they go from the wilderness of Alaska to the city of Washington DC/Maryland then to Manila in the Philippines. The Manila locations seemed very realistic and made the characters “international bad asses”. The action sequences in Manila are really good and the best in the movie as far as I am concerned.
The Con’s
There are only two real things that I really didn’t care for in the movie and unfortunately they are kinda big things. The first being the “Lark 3” agent who was activated about 85% through the movie to search and kill Aaron Cross and the doctor. I understand they needed a plot device and some type of super agent to “one up” and come after them but I feel like it was used far too late in the film. The actor they used for the “Lark 3” agent who was suppose to be just like the Treadstone agents, but has no remorse had a striking resemblance to the asian bad guy in the Karate Kid pt 2. I found that to be kinda hilarious and I know it wasn’t suppose to be but it was. Now I won’t ruin the movie for anyone who hasn’t seen it but I expected more from him since he was suppose to be this ultimate killing machine. Let’s just say he fell short of my expectations.
The 2nd thing I really didn’t care for was the anti climatic ending. They suddenly came up with this ultra bad ass agent who was suppose to be like the terminator or something and he wasn’t even used in a real fight scene. I think the writers Tony and Dan Gilroy should have re thought this decision. The chase through Manila was cool but it left me wanting to see a big showdown and fight to the death between Aaron Cross and “Larx 3”. The ending to the movie is one of those moments where you say “is that it? They are going to end it like that???”…
But of course the end is very open ended and it leaves the door wide open for a Bourne 5. And there are rumors that Matt Damon and Jeremy Renner will star in the movie together as the two agents team up. It’s too early to say if this is true or not, but The Bourne Legacy is out now and it is a pretty good movie to go out and see in theaters.
MindBender Movie Meter Score
The Bourne Legacy………74%
“Like” Us on Facebook——> MindBender Entertainment
Follow Us On Twitter——–> @MindBenderEnt