3.5 stars out of 5
I saw the first Bourne movie on a plane, and liked it a lot. The second one, I watched on-demand at home, and also enjoyed quite a bit. Vowed to see the third one in a theater, which I did, and by gum, very satisfying once again. Had the fourth installment been presented to us as a Broadway musical, I’d be standing in the TKTS line right now.
However, they took the “safe” route and released The Bourne Legacy as a movie, not even making us step up to 3-D IMAX horseshit. Maybe that was the movie company’s way of saying, hey, we couldn’t get the director and star to return, you don’t have to pay a surcharge, do we have a deal? And they’ve come up with a very entertaining and generally well-thought-out film that doesn’t disgrace the series. Just one problem: I kept hoping that Jason Bourne would show up. Which I knew wouldn’t happen, but I still couldn’t help but feel a little underwhelmed.
I want to say this isn’t Jeremy Renner’s fault, but, you know, it partially is. Renner is a very good actor. He does a fine job in this. But to paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen, “Renner, you’re no Matt Damon.” Damon added a depth to the proceedings that just isn’t present here. In fact, maybe I should finally watch Green Zone, starring Damon and directed by previous Bourne director Paul Greengrass, which my buddy Jimmy loaned me a DVD of a long while back. I sure hope Jimmy doesn’t read this review.
They bring in Rachel Weisz to class up the joint, but, frankly, they kind of blow it. And let me preface this by saying that I am big fan of Ms. Weisz. Big fan. But make her do a flat American accent and put a long dark wig on her, and suddenly Rachel Weisz becomes Juliette Lewis. The mystique, the allure—gone with the wind in 60 seconds.
You know who I feel bad for? Julia Stiles. Sure, she never had much to do in the Bourne movies, but she’s not around this time, and hey, a paycheck’s a paycheck.
Tony Gilroy, who wrote the other Bourne films and also directs here, does a very solid job overall. He cleverly overlaps some of the action here with The Bourne Ultimatum, though that might’ve been easier for us audience members to parse if that movie didn’t come out five freaking years ago. Gilroy also injects some of the compelling behind-the-scenes weaselry that helped make his Michael Clayton such a terrific film. (Renner, you’re no Clooney either. You know, can we just get another Ocean’s Eleven movie already?)
The many action sequences are pretty great. I often felt tense watching this, which is a very good sign for this sort of movie. The movie is never less than enjoyable, and I do think you’ll like it. My inner Shalit wants to proclaim it Not Borin’. There are a few jumps in logic that I’d question, and things get a little too Terminator-y late in the proceedings. So I ultimatum-ly have to say, a notch below their previous efforts. The Bourne films came along as a smarter, sharper, leaner alternative to the then-tired 007 series. But the Daniel Craig era has definitely raised the game for Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Is this the year he surpasses the Bourne bunch? Your move, Mr. Bond.
What a wonderfully entertaining review! Before stopping here, I couldn’t decide if The Bourne Legacy was going to be worth a movie ticket since there are several movies I want to see in theater, but I can’t possibly allow myself to afford them all. One of my buddies, who I work with at Dish, said this movie was great, especially after he watched the first three Bourne movies earlier that day. I think I’ll skip it in the theater and save that money for The Expendables II, (no way I’m missing that on the big screen). I’ll just add The Bourne Legacy to my Blockbuster @Home queue, along with the other three Bourne movies. Even though it’s still in theaters, I can still place my hold The Bourne Legacy, that way I’ll be one of the first to rent it on disc. Thanks for helping me save my pennies and not miss a good movie!
Thanks “Blake”! You are so enthusiastic, for a second I thought you might be “comment spam”! But Dish Network would never do that. I’m not sure, because I am a cable subscriber, which I find to be less expensive and provides better service. I just tried and I could also add The Bourne Legacy to my Netflix queue, how about that!