Renner's Cross is a conflicted hero built to take advantage of the "Hurt Locker" star's best qualities as an actor - his default intensity, the way he conveys that complicated mental calculations are taking place under cover of watchful stillness, even underwater.
The fight scenes in this film are FANTASTICALLY choreographed - Renner turns killing into a dance. The ending leaves just enough open that we can realistically expect a sequel.
Here we see a real lack in the...well, all I can say is intelligence ...of many film critics. If you see the term confusing in a review...that is a red flag the critic was not paying attention, has poor listening or analytical skills or is just not too smart.
The movie on the other hand is very smart, really fast, exciting and well done. Everything, every line and action makes sense within the integrated whole of the movie.
If you like your movies intelligent, exciting fast we complex and sophicticated characters and writing see this move. Highly recommended.
It has plenty of energy and drive, and Jeremy Renner is really good, better as a Bourne-y agent than Matt Damon, tougher and more grizzled-looking, more convincing as the professional soldier who has grown careworn and disillusioned in the public service.
It looks fantastic, but it's also hard to sit through, because by that point The Bourne Legacy has repeatedly proven there are no surprises to be had here, no more fresh stories to be mined from this well. The stunts look exhausting, though. No wonder Damon bailed.
The Bourne series ended with the last installment, and now comes a 135-minute death rattle called The Bourne Legacy. It's a peculiar movie, both over-plotted and under-plotted, encumbered by layers of detail and yet with no details invested in or developed.
Finally! Legacy will be the pinnacle of the Borne movies. A mature actor with a mature plot. Renner takes Damon's attempt at an action hero and does it 10x better. You don't need to suspend belief to imagine Renner as a gruff operative which makes a fresh change from Damon as the "Deer in the Headlights" we've seen in the previous films.
The story was full of intrigue and the slow boil which was the first act was a much need change from the Damon lead cartoons we've had before.
The Bourne Legacy is a very uneventful ride. Barely anything of intrigue or surprise or suspense unfolds throughout the run time, and there is no evolution in the plot. I was shocked when it ended because I thought there was another 20 minutes left to go. If you're going to cling on to a franchise and replace it's lead star, then give us something cool and interesting.
Its unfortunate but I was expecting great things for this movie. I am a huge Bourne fan, having read the Ludlum novels and watched the Bourne trilogy at least 5 fives already. Seeing the average reviews for The Bourne Legacy I was determined that this could not ****. It could not. Oh how wrong I was.
Having got this movie on Blu-Ray just recently, I was pumping for this film. First ten minutes in, I had a horrible feeling. This feels...wrong. Half an hour in, I was like, hey it seems to be picking up. Now, I am not asking for a lot of action. To be honest, I want a movie to be balance of action and dialogue. A lot of the diehard fanboys of this movie (A few in the metacritic reviews) attack those of us who gave his movie mediocre scores as they accuse us of giving it a bad score due to the fact that 'there's not much/not as much action scenes as the previous Bourne films'. To that I say, bullsht. In fact, the action scenes in this movie are alright and the lack of them isn't key in bringing down the score. What does bring it down is a combination of several elements. Firstly, the plot. The plot has to be one of the worst action film plot Ive seen in recent years. And the bad thing is, they're serious here. Unlike the Expendables 1 and 2 where they know its bad so they dont take the plot seriously, Legacy takes it all way too seriously. The movie is full of rudimentary segments and parts that felt way too long. It felt almost like as if the writer wrote a epic plot with visits to several exotic locations, plot twists and sequences. Instead, in filming, they discovered that the script was too long and it was too late to shorten it down. So they just did what they did. About what can be done in 30~50minutes stretched out into 2 hours. Nice work guys. It almost felt like a chore watching this movie after 40 minutes because it just felt so slow and plot progression movie like a slug up a ramp. Unlike the previous Bourne films which mixed a variety of sequences (chases, gun scenes, escapes etc) with excellent plot dialogue segments, Legacy just fills about 85% of the movie with slow dialogue segments that do little to move the story forward and throws in 2 fight scenes, each only around 2 minutes long and single chase scene at the end. That's it. And the asset send to hunt down our protagonists? He's apparently superior to the assets seen the previous Bourne films as he's in a newer, superior program. But heck, in the ****'s not that good. Especially when going against Renner, who is in an inferior program to Bourne.
And why the Philippines? That's right folks, half the movie takes place in Manila. I have nothing against the Philippines and have been there before. Its a great country...just with a lot of uninteresting places and lots of slums. Its not really the ideal locale for a top-notch action film. Had this been set in say, Japan, Korea or China or hell, have it back in Europe like the previous Bourne films, it would've been a lot more appealing. Its like saying, "hey, lets set Lord of the Rings in a swamp and have it there for half the movie!". Or "Hey, lets have The Dark Knight set in Antarctica! That's exotic right?" And I felt sorry for Jeremy Renner. This guy has done a great job in this film and its sad to see the rest of the movie being utter dung. Now Rachel **** she's a hot milf. Since The Mummy Returns, Ive always had something for her. She's hot. But her acting? Its alright, not too bad, but there are some scenes where you would just **** this an industry veteran or some new girl on the block. But yea, at least she's a much-needed eyecandy for this horrible film. Bourne Legacy doesn't receive a 3/10 purely due to a lack of good action scenes. In fact, its action scenes are okay and while there is a lack of them, its not the critical factor. The crucial aspect that nails this film in its coffin is the combination of a boring/shallow plot, boring characters (and a complete lack of chemistry, good or bad, between the Weiz and Renner to the point where it feels like they hate each others guts in real life and wanted to avoid doing anything/speaking with one another), a lame premise, bad locale choice and basically, having next to no relations with the Bourne Trilogy. Its like Prometheus to Alien...sure there's the hints and links here and there, but its not the same thing. This is The Bourne Legacy. While I can see Prometheus fit within the Alien universe, Legacy doesn't really feel like its part of the Bourne universe. Sure, it has Jason Bourne it **** TV, but overall, if you remove the 'Bourne' title in this movie, it really would not making a difference. So shallow, uninspiring and boring, this film dampened the Bourne namesake so bad that I had to rewatch the Bourne Trilogy again just to make myself feel better. A horrible, Grade-B spinoff of the Bourne franchise with no class nor brains.