Review of The Bourne Legacy (2012) by Alex P — 08 Jun 2013

Quite frankly this shouldn't be associated with the Bourne franchise. It doesn't have the intensity, drama, high octane action & most importantly the cleverness & brains behind the Bourne Trilogy.

Any action is few & far between with the best left to the last 30 minutes of film as our new CIA agent tries to escape Manila. The plot runs in conjunction with the fallout of The Bourne Ultimatum as Pamela Landey & Jason Bourne reveal all to the world about the secret programmes of Treadstone & Blackbriar.

This forces the CIA into abandoning another black op programme where a new breed of assassin are being genetically enhanced. The programme is closed with all agents being taken out permanently. But one, Aaron Cross, narrowly escapes assassination.

Sadly the action drops after this & it becomes more about an agent trying to get a fix as his drugs are soon near depletion. Also the film mirrors the first & last Bourne Films with everything being very familiar as he tries to escape attention & elimination with a female companion in tow.

The cat & mouse action from Morocco in The Bourne Ultimatum returns as well but this time on the roof tops & narrow streets of Manila. Sadly the lack of originality & any decent script makes this fourth outing of The Bourne Franchise the worst of the lot by a long shot.

If it wasn't for the decent action in Manila I'd had knocked off,at most, another star.