August 10, 2012 in GENRES
THE BOURNE LEGACY
RYAN: The Bourne trilogy was fantastic and you can’t really look at this movie without comparing it to those films.
CAROLINE: That’s very understandable. And there’s no Matt Damon in this one. So how was it?
RYAN: It’s ok but pretty jumbled and unoriginal.
CAROLINE: Oh that’s sad. I was hoping, as I’m sure one Jeremy Renner was, that this would proudly carry on the torch.
RYAN: Me too. In fact, I still find myself wanting to like it more than I did. There are some good elements to it: Rachel Weisz, who I always love, a shirtless Jeremy Renner, a plot that you put together as it goes on, and Edward Norton who, LBH, is a genius.
RYAN: It’s just not that exciting and it’s way too formulaic. It feels like the ugly stepsister to an actual Bourne movie.
CAROLINE: Ouch.
RYAN: I mean, it’s the same kind of story… Jeremy doesn’t play Jason Bourne but he’s another spy trying to save himself on the run from the good guys gone bad.
CAROLINE: A rogue spy story is hard to screw up.
RYAN: But the action scenes aren’t that exciting or innovative. You know how in, like, a Mission Impossible movie there’s usually an action sequence or two that is just jaw dropping?
CAROLINE: Totally.
RYAN: None of that here. And I was really rooting for it. And another thing – I don’t want to give away any plot points, but the basis for Jeremy’s character is so far-fetched it kind of perturbed me.
CAROLINE: That’s annoying indeed.
RYAN: Even Ed Norton just ended feeling really underused to me. There is plenty of reference to the previous Bourne films but it just really lacked the polish and intelligence of the previous movies.
CAROLINE: It sounds like a missed opportunity.
RYAN: It really is. I don’t think this will do as well as the actual Bourne movies. Although the casting is good, it just doesn’t have the oomph or impact that it should have. Still it’s not a total loss so it’s something I’d say just isn’t a must see in the theater.
— RATING —
Dan O. August 11, 2012
All of the action in the last 30 minutes really does make up for the slow start and that was one of the most thrilling aspects of this movie. Other than the fact that Aaron Cross wasn’t the type of character you messed with, regardless of whether or not his name was Jason Bourne. Great review Ryan.