I was a bit apprehensive going into this movie. The Bourne Trilogy is one of the very few movie series I actually like and although I try not to go into any movie with any expectations, I couldn’t help it. The Bourne Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum were all very solid movies, so the idea of a 4th movie seemed a bit iffy to me. I was unsure how the director would be able to create a movie that would have the same vibe and intensity as the first 3. I was skeptical with regards to how the director would build on the previous movies and whether or not The Bourne Legacy would could uphold the expectations I had.
I think I’ll start this review with the things I liked about it, and why it got a 1, rather than a 0.
When I first heard that Matt Damon would not be the main character in this movie, that worried me because I thought that Jeremy Renner would be replacing Damon as Jason Bourne. When I found out that Renner wasn’t replacing Damon as Bourne and that he was a ‘new’ character, I was still worried because Damon wouldn’t be in it. Needless to say, I didn’t have any issues with his acting. Renner’s acting was great as usual. If I could have picked anyone to come into the Bourne series, it would have been him. I think Renner has proved himself as a good actor, especially in action-flicks. So, Renner wasn’t the weakest link in this movie – in fact, he was the strongest. I will also add here that I really liked Edward Norton’s performance as well (I don’t really care to expand on that).
Second thing I liked about this movie, which I’ll admit, can be considered a minute detail, but a detail I liked nevertheless was that part of it was set in the Philippines. The viewer got to see a country that Jason Bourne hadn’t been to. Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing the European countries, Russia, India, ect, but seeing a different setting was cool.
So if the only things I liked about this movie was Renner/Renner’s acting, Norton, and the setting, well, I think it’s obvious what I didn’t like: the rest of the movie. And this really sucks because I really wanted to like this movie.
When it comes to the plot, I’d have to say that it was a bit simple (yet very jumbled) compared to Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum. It was slow-paced, again, compared to the other 3 because there was a lot more talking than action. The storyline wasn’t as interesting as the trilogy that came before it.
Right from the beginning, this movie wasn’t captivating. It was boring. Aaron Cross (Renner) was in a cold mountainous area and as he was trekking through I kept thinking “so what’s the point of this”. And who knows how long later when you’re told the point, it means nothing to you. All that time was spent to show the audience that Cross beat the record by 2 days and that he’s that good. And correct me if I’m wrong, but it seemed as if it wasn’t Bourne’s record, it was that guy in the cabin; so does that imply that Cross isn’t as good as Bourne? Rhetorical question. Of course Cross isn’t. I think the Cross character was over done – I really didn’t see him as much of a threat compared to Bourne.
This takes me to the part that bugged me the most about this movie; so even if Cross is that good, he was only able to do it because he had to take 2 pills every couple of hours. Jason Bourne did not need to take pills to be as awesome as he was. So what it comes down to is Cross would suck without taking the pills. And this is supposed to be the next Jason Bourne? Bullshit! So what we have here is some guy that’s addicted to pills as our new super spy. And I say ‘addicted’ because he WAS!. When Cross first meet up with Dr Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) he was freaking out like an addict in need of a his/her next fix. So there we have it, our next Jason Bourne is a druggie – what a legacy.
A few other points I want to make:
-I did not like the script. The conversations were boring and didn’t have an impact on the viewer.
-The action was dull and it’s not like this movie had a lot of it.
-There were several parts in which intense music was added but was completely unnecessary. I think it had the opposite effect it was supposed to have.
-The love story was forced and seemed so typical and cheesy. There was no chemistry between Cross and Dr Shearing as characters or Renner and Weisz as actors.
-When flashbacks were added in TBI, TBS and TBU, eventually the viewer got to know why, but in TBL, they were never explained or expanded on. This also made it longer than it should have been.
I haven’t seen the movie Limitless, but from what I’ve gathered it’s about some guy that takes a pill and gets enhanced abilities. I bring this up because, in all honesty I think that The Bourne Legacy should be renamed to Limitless 2 and have nothing to do with the other Bourne movies. As far as I’m concerned, the Bourne series ended at Ultimatum.
I know I’ve made a lot of comparisons to Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum, but I can’t help it. There was a lot of mystery, tension and intensity in each of those movies. They all started out fast and ended with Bourne coming out on top. The Bourne Legacy had none of that. When I heard the ‘Bourne theme song’ at the end of TBL, I died inside. This movie didn’t deserve to end with that music we have all come to love.
If this movie wasn’t a part of the Bourne installment, then my review would have been a lot different. I still probably wouldn’t have liked it, but it would have been different. There had to be some expectations being a Bourne movie, and frankly it falls short.
