Review of The Bourne Legacy (2012) by Dustin D — 21 Jul 2016

A Bourne movie without Jason Bourne... The Bourne Legacy is something of a Jason Bourne expanded universe film. It has a few good action sequences, such as a close-quarters fight in an old farm house, and a (way-too-long) chase through the streets of Manila.

This is also something of a soft remake of The Bourne Identity, with some of the same visual cues and plot points. It also builds on an idea planted in the first movie that was left hanging. I liked the idea of a genetically enhanced agent tweaking out because he needs his drugs, so our protagonist comes off as a junkie motivated by getting his fix, but the movie took the idea of genetic modification too far to suspend disbelief.

The non-action scenes went on too long in this 2 hour 15 minute film, and could have been trimmed for a tighter narrative. Overall, it gets a passing grade as an action thriller.