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| Courtesy of Universal |
That
brings me to The Bourne Legacy, the most blatant cash grab I’ve experienced
in a while. Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass both declined to return, which
makes sense considering they finished telling Jason Bourne’s story with The
Bourne Ultimatum. Instead, the plot centers on Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner, not
to blame for the flick’s mediocrity), another superspy who’s having his own Flowers for Algernon-meets-James Bond adventure concurrently with the previous
movie.
Confused
yet? I’m just getting started. Apparently there’s an even more sinister organization
behind the series’ previous cloak-and-dagger baddies, and it doesn’t want its
secrets exposed due to Bourne’s exploits. Led by Eric Byer (Edward Norton,
terrific as usual), the group starts eliminating everyone involved in the
conspiracy. Soon the only people left are Cross and a horrified scientist
(Rachel Weisz), so they pair up to outwit their pursuers.
The
Bourne Legacy is fine – pretty entertaining, but nothing you’ll be raving
about a few days later. Tony Gilroy, pulling double-duty as director and
screenwriter after penning the previous entries, mimics Greengrass’ style but
fails to capture the substance behind it. There is a cool action sequence
inside an old farmhouse, a terrifying workplace shooting, a couple of creative
kills and great work by Renner and Norton that deserves a better vehicle. That’s
about it.
But
the plot is needlessly convoluted and, even worse, erases all the progress
Bourne made in taking down the bad guys. It just feels unnecessarily cruel.
Plus, the whole thing is a two-hour setup for yet another sequel. I get that
the other flicks made mega-bucks, and there was clearly money left on the table
based on last weekend’s box office numbers. But was it worth tarnishing the
series’ legacy? Because that’s what happened.
The Bourne Legacy is rated
PG-13 for violence and action sequences.
Grade:
C+
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