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.
