Overall, the Bourne Legacy fits the typical action flick profile. The hardboiled hero, attractive female companion, and cunning villain. The fight and chase sequences are entertaining and reasonably well-crafted. All in all, it’s a well done movie. Its only problem is that as the fourth Bourne, it doesn’t live up to the rest of the series.
The plot draws on the events from previous Bournes. Edward Norton as Eric Byer is the director of the shady programs Jason Bourne began to uncover, threatening to expose their illegal activity to the world. A participant of one such program is this film’s protagonist Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), introduced to the audience as a lone man popping unidentified colored pills while performing such demanding labor as outrunning packs of wolves. Unlike the other Bournes, Aaron’s memory is intact. Thus the mystery the hero faces in this film is merely physical, contrary to Jason Bourne’s complex psychological enigma.
This film was clearly an effort to carry on the momentum of the supremely popular Bourne Trilogy. Jeremy Renner performs well enough, but he can’t hold a candle to academy award winner Matt Damon. Actually, Renner doesn’t do much that much acting relative to the considerable amount of screen time he is granted. Heart-throbbing good looks can only take an actor so far; the actual character development of Renner as Aaron Cross fails to impress.
The best-developed character in the film is Aaron’s superior turned associate, Dr. Marta Shearing, played by Rachel Weiss. Her ability as an actress to come across as a multi-dimensional individual with intelligence and competence as well as vulnerability and realistic feelings of paranoia helps make up for what her co-actor lacks in acting ability, and strengthens the movie as a whole.
Bear in mind, the Bourne Legacy is not a bad film. Its only problem is that as the fourth installment of the Bourne saga, it only ranks fourth in quality. If you really want to see a good Bourne, simply consider watching the older ones.