First off, let me just tell you geek brothers and sisters out there that I have not seen the second and third parts of the Matt Damon trilogy. To my credit, I did watch the first one, but of course that was years ago. I know I know, but I plan to catch up in the near future. Until I do, here is my review of THE BOURNE LEGACY.
The good thing about the film is that you really didn’t have to see the previous ones, though you probably should know who Jason Bourne is. But at the same time you wished it had some of the things that made Damon’s trilogy interesting. Yes, they made references to Jason Bourne being in New York, but LEGACY didn’t have much to do with that.
Jeremy Renner played Aaron Cross, a spy on a training mission that was unaware of the situation Bourne was causing back home. Unfortunately, it isn’t long before Cross learns that he’s been targeted by his organization along with his entire program. Now it’s a game of big government cat versus little spy mouse as Cross flees while gaining some much-needed assistance from Dr. Marta Shearing, played by Rachel Weisz.
No spoilers yet, but the film starts out like a West Wing political drama, with cuts to Renner’s character on his snow-capped mountain-climbing training mission. Even though the cinematography of the landscape was nice, and he did some cool survival stuff, Cross wasn’t putting anybody in headlocks and breaking arms, not even the wolves he had to fight off. Well, there was that one… Anyway, the film took a while to build up to the action, which is something you want to see in a Bourne movie. All of the political discussion was unnecessary to me in the first and second act. By the time Renner got to do his thing – the killing and maiming, half the film was over. And there were only 2 major action sequences to make your eyes widen and take notice. It wasn’t that it was totally boring, but I’m sure Bourne fans would feel they deserve more.
SPOILERS BABY, SPOILERS
I’m not going to ruin the whole film, but here are a couple problems I had. First off, the story wasn’t all that compelling. Cross, is an enhanced spy with genetically altered physical and mental abilities. Not in a superhuman Captain America way, but just a little peaked-up. But in order to maintain that level, he and other spies in his group had to take chemicals in the form of pills. The story plot is basically that once his superiors decided to burn the organization and try to kill him, he was cut off of his chemical romance. That’s when he makes it his mission to get Dr. Shearing to help him get what he needs before he fatally withdrawls. That’s it. That’s the plot of the film. No going after Ed Norton’s characters that put a hit on you and the rest of the spies. No broadcasting this espionage foul-play to the news. Just get the drugs and bounce.
The other problem I had was that after Norton sends people who try and fail to kill Renner and Weisz’ characters, he send another ‘suped-up’ spy out of nowhere to get them in the final act. There were no explanations as to who this guy was personally, or why this other program existed and why it wasn’t burned also. So yes, we get a great and lengthy chase sequence at the end, but not many plot twists or anything. The film closes with Renner and Wiesz having a James Bond with Girl moment – The End.
I also reviewed the film on my podcast GEEK SOUL BROTHER LIVE! where Mustki mentioned that the production studio plans to have a sequel to LEGACY. I have to admit, the film did have a ‘set-up’ feel to it.
THE BOURNE LEGACY – A spy film that has some qualities to it, but it ain’t what it could have been. Geek Soul Brother gives this film 2.75 out of 5 COSMIC AFROS.
2 comments
Steve Tolbert
August 17, 2012 at 7:44 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m glad that I didn’t see it because I knew that Legacy would disappoint.
Geek Soul Brother
August 17, 2012 at 12:15 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I think a lot of fans were disappointed, at least a little.