The Bourne Legacy attempts to catch us up to six weeks after the havoc Jason Bourne stirs around in The Bourne Ultimatum, by introducing us to Aaron Cross (played by Jeremy Renner)- a slightly different kind of super spy who relies on regimented genetic drug enhancements to make him faster, stronger, and yes, even smarter. The only trouble with this is Aaron Cross has to wrestle with the ghost of Jason Bourne and the direction in this movie doesn't make it easy (it also doesn't help to mention Jason Bourne's name literally every two minutes within the first hour of the film).
Immediately, the audience is subjected to the usual tactless "Bourne" trademarks: vomit inducing hand held cameras, fast paced string music that indicates when one should become excited, constant running so that each chase scene becomes more mundane than ever thought possible, the scene in the bathroom where the hero and the damsel make meaningful eye contact, and frequent cuts back to the frantic CIA agents who always try to track their man but unfortunately fall one step behind him.
But as long as the main protagonist has an interesting story line (i.e. forgetting ones memory and painfully coming to the realization that the patriotic work you do may not be completely on the level) then things should remain engaging right? Exactly, and that's why it's a little hard to empathize with Aaron Cross when he's crossing the country and risking his and Rachel Weisz' life to get more of drugs that make him super awesome.
All complaining aside, on it's own, The Bourne Legacy is an average to good action movie. It is proficiently filmed, has interesting locations, the fight scenes are choreographed well (when you can catch them between camera movements), and the acting is pulled off with ease. However, when attempting to expand a franchise without its most familiar face, one can't help but ask the question: what was the point?
