Weak story and script, but decent acting and execution.

Rating: 5/10 (14 December 2014)

While the technical aspects of this film were done just fine, I cannot call it a well executed movie. The story and script were quite lacking in multiple places and had unremarkable potential to begin with. Out of the original Bourne movies, I have only seen the first on, but the story in that had a very good base plot, natural and visible growth, and plenty of room to go into a sequel while remaining complete.
There wasn't much of that in this reboot. The whole plot was based off of a couple of pills that were important for an unknown reason. Perhaps it was explained and I missed it, but even so, it was a rather flimsy basis. We saw that everyone who took the new pills died since their organization wanted all of the "Bourne Projects" terminated. However, I felt that this was insufficiently explained as well. From what I know of the second and third Bourne movies, I could guess at their motive for poisoning all of those people, but the fact does not change that the motive was insufficiently explained. It inflicts the same sense of incompletion that we got from Mission Impossible 3 when there is no explanation of what the "rabbit's foot" is. The last half-hour of the movie involves Aaron Cross being chased by the assassin, and this also feels incomplete. The whole sequence where the assassin chases Cross through the streets of the Philippines city felt like it belonged in the middle of the movie instead of the climax. Once the chase is finished, it feels like there is more to come. I thought that there was going to be another thirty minutes or so after the climatic scene. There really isn't a good reason for Ed Norton and company to stop chasing Aaron Cross after he takes out the assassin apart from the risk of losing whatever other mercenaries they send after him.
The characters were also pretty weak, though well acted. The introduction of Aaron Cross comes over just fine, but after that it kind of goes downhill. His obsession about getting a refill on his pills is presented in a way that makes him seem almost like a drug addict. Dr. Shearing's character was also introduced naturally, but once she started getting interrogated, her character arc declined. The interrogation scenes with her seemed too drawn out and I felt like her character became annoying at this point. I won't make any definite statements, but I will say that her character and the way she fits into the story could potentially cause annoyance for prospective viewers too. The progression of the relationship between Cross and Shearing was rather unnatural. They both seem rather averse to each other at first, and nothing that comes after that makes it plausible that they are implied to end up together at the end. Our only other main character is played by Ed Norton, who, like our other two main roles, does a fine job acting. I suppose there isn't anything outstanding to criticize for his character apart from his role being a rather stereotypical government antagonist.
On the more positive side, the spy style action is decent with some infiltration, a couple of gun fights, and the extended chase scene at the end. Other spy elements come into play with the way Cross and Shearing have to disguise themselves to get on, through, and off of the plane ride to the Philippines. The beginning training exercise is also pretty good in terms of spy elements, though there is little strict action here. One spy movie element that is not present at any point in this movie is the use of fancy spy gear like in the Mission Impossible and James Bond movies. This isn't necessarily good or bad, but it is something to be conscious of going into the movie.
So in brief, it feels sort of like the Bourne Identity, but with a much weaker storyline and less likable and convincing characters. The action and technical execution are slightly redeeming qualities, but not enough to override the points where it lacks. I suppose another redeeming aspect is that there is no forced attempt at humor to frequently annoy viewers. So watch it if you can't find anything that looks better and want something relatively exciting and entertaining, but if you want a solid storyline, you are almost guaranteed to find a better one from any given selection. Overall Rating: 7.2/10.