Review: The Bourne Legacy

I got to check out an advanced screening of Bourne Legacy tonight. I think there will be a lot of conflicting views on this movie. However, I come to you tonight with a heavy heart. As a huge fan of the Bourne books and movies, a fan of Jeremy Renner, and a lover of complex-action stories, I tried to love it. I can say that… I liked it. I can say that it is worth a watch, just for Renner alone. He, as usual, is captivating, raw, unpolished. Even people like Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, and Stacy Keach were worth a listen and a watch. But the Bourne Legacy has the same problem that most movies that try to continue the franchise without having been a part of the original have: the story doesn’t fully stick. There were parts were I often wondered, “other than staying alive, what is the goal??” Apparently, a few YouTube videos and possible public links of members of the former team make it necessary to kill everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) associated or linked to the endless list of “secret” operations. Aaron Cross (Renner) knows nothing of his purpose, team status, or how many others there might be. He crosses a mountain and almost immediately must fight for his life. A few nosebleeds, an unsuspecting wolf-later and we are on a ride that while entertaining, seems forced. Dr. Shearing (Weisz) is one of the few people that Cross feels can help, and much like previous Bourne movies, he finds himself drawn to help and protect her. They eventually end up on the opposite side of the world and must find a way to complete the “goal.” Ok, so one my biggest problem is the built-up showdown between Cross and a Larx operative. It is a huge letdown. I won’t tell you what happens, but safe to say it isn’t pretty and it is very fast. So yes I can articulate a storyline, I can tell you what might be happening, but it was very hard for me to understand the importance of it while it was happening. At some points, I felt like it was made up after every scene was wrapped. The very abrupt ending, did not help the “I think they wrote this on a whim” idea either. Still, my heavy heart says go see it. It says try not to over-think it as I did. Don’t compare this to the Bourne trilogy (it is a fight that Legacy can’t win). Try not to see connections between the story and real-life events (i.e. in which governmental operations allow for innocence to be destroyed just to save a public image). Go see it because it is a fun ride. Go see it because the action is raw, there are no shaky camera scenes, and because Jeremy Renner is really on to something.