Review of The Bourne Legacy (2012) by Kevin O — 26 May 2013

When the main actor of one of the most successful action franchises ever says he is open to reprising the role bt only if the story is good, then they release a new movie without that actor, that should be a warning sign.

This is a mess from the start, they are so desperate to remind you that this is a Bourne movie that they even open with the same shot that the first movie opened with. There are pictures of Jason Bourne scattered throughout the film, the start of the film is heavy with flashbacks in an attempt to establish that this film is takn place at the same time as the last movie, other characters from the trilogy are mentioned alot as is the Treadstone project.

If they really wanted to make us accept this as a Bourne movie, they should have written a worthy script and delivered some memorable action scenes. What I enjoyed the most about the original trilogy is how each movie improved on the last even when you didn't think it was possible. This is a huge step back in every way and I really want that time of my life back.

Probably the biggest crime is that the efforts of Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz are completely wasted. This mess is not their fault, the physical efforts by both were admirable and there was good chemistry between the two. Unfortunately a good enough script could not be developed to give them even more to do. In addition although he is only on screen a very short time, it is always good to see Albert Finney on screen. The movie would have been better if they just let him adlib for about 90 minutes.