Review of The Bourne Legacy

The original Bourne franchise re-invented the genre of spy movies, even prompting 007 to step it up a notch. It was announced a couple of years ago that the franchise would live on, even though Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass would not be involved, leaving Universal to fill the void. After a lot of discussion and manuvering, a.k.a money, they persuaded the trilogy's writer Tony Gilroy to both write and direct a new Bourne film that would focus on a new character to be played by Jeremy Renner. The main concern to most of the fans of the franchise was whether or not it would be good enough to fit in with, excuse the pun, the "Bourne Legacy." So, does it?

No, not really. Not to say this is a bad film, because it isn't, I'm simply saying that it doesn't live up to any of the original's films. While many complain it starts up too slow, I actually enjoyed the build up. I thought that it was the perfect way to set up the new characters while tying them to the situations of "The Bourne Ultimatum." The second heats up, and the scene in Shearing's house is very thrilling and that leads to the big chase in Minila, and then it just ends. That's when Gilroy and Co. drop the ball, a great beginning and middle, and no real ending. Nothing is wrapped up, no character resolution, and no point. I remember sitting in my seat, and when the Moby came, I looked at the person sitting next to me and said, "Really, is that it?" The cast is great, even though Edward Norton's villian is essentially missing for the better part of the last hour.

The worst part here is that feeling you get that tells you that this film was simply made to have a sequel, one that I would be willing to see if simply to see a proper resolution to the plot. Jeremy Renney makes for a good lead, but Aaron Cross really doesn't stack up to Jason Bourne, and Gilroy's direction doesn't have the pulsating grittiness that elevated Greengrass's films. Maybe we'll get lucky and Damon & Greengrass will come back, because if this film's ending is any indication, they are desperately needed.

GRADE: B-