Movie Review: The Bourne Legacy

Movie Review: The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Director: Tony Gilroy
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton
Plot: Aaron Cross (Renner) is an agent in a top-secret government program training the next generation of soldier / assassin. He has to take medication on a regular basis – a blue pill and a green pill – each enhancing either mental or physical capabilities.

However, when Jason Bourne (not in this movie) goes rogue, the agency that created him and soldiers like him have to shut down the program. And what better way to do that than to kill everyone associated with it?

Enter Retired Col. Eric Byer, USAF (Norton), who has to do damage control and make the hard decisions. Which means firing missiles from remote drones to try to kill Cross (hint: he misses).

Meanwhile, Dr. Marta Shearing (Weisz) is a researcher who develops the pills (but doesn’t manufacture them, she just knows how “the science” works). One of her colleagues “gets activated” and kills everyone in the office, except for her.

When she plans a trip to visit her sister in Canada, she’s again targeted for death – but saved by Cross. Now, the two of them are on the run, trying to develop a way for Cross to have his enhanced abilities without taking the pills. And all the while they’re dodging sleeper agents, SWAT teams, and anything else that stands in their way.

I’m only vaguely familiar with the Bourne series of movies, having watched the first flick, kind of paying attention to the second flick, and somehow avoiding the third flick completely. It wasn’t for lack of interest….

Well, okay – that’s a lie. After Franka Potente was killed in the second movie (that’s not a spoiler, it’s in the first 2 minutes of the movie) I kind of lost interest in the series.

Because of my lack of familiarity with the series, I found this movie a little difficult to follow. Why did they have to kill Cross? Why couldn’t they just ween him off the drugs and move everyone working on the pills to another project? It’s not like he’s gone on a mission yet or anything to do anything illegal….

I found the plot of the movie very unoriginal and not compelling. Probably more of the same from the previous flicks.

The action is good and intense, though. The entire thing is high octane, and Renner does a great job as the leading man. The rest of the performances are serviceable, and fit the character they need to play.

All in all, not an over-whelming amazing piece of film, but an entertaining one. Definitely recommend freshening up on the previous flicks before you watch it, though.