A pleasant surprise.

Rating: 8/10 (11 August 2012)

When I first heard about The Bourne Legacy, my first thought was, "Here we go again." It definitely wasn't at the top of my must see list. My main reason was that the first three films worked so well with Matt Damon that I couldn't picture the next film going on without him. But luckily, The Bourne Legacy holds up just fine. Fasten your seat belts, you're in for a good time.
We who have seen the trilogy know that what happened with Jason Bourne didn't go according to plan. But as it turns out, Jason Bourne wasn't the only one involved. In fact, there are quite a few people involved, and after the Bourne fiasco gets out of hand, the organization behind it decide to take care of all loose ends, eliminating everyone involved. Except for two.
One is named Aaron Cross(played by Jeremy Renner), and the other is a nice doctor(played by the lovely Rachael Weisz) who was simply doing what she is told. The two of them know each other from the past. After they are both nearly killed, they decide to team up and outrun the people desperately trying to shut them up.
Considering I have seen the trilogy only one time, i was afraid of going into The Bourne Legacy, mainly because I thought I would be lost. About twenty minutes into the movie, I was thinking, once again, "Here we go." But luckily it finally came through. I had a good time here because, thank the lord, I knew what was going on. The people I was with all fell asleep because they were lost, but I hung in there, and it was a good ride.
There are some terrific action sequences, it's very entertaining, and Renner and Weisz make a good team, especially because they are so talented.Michael Clayton director Tony Gilroy, who penned the scripts for the first three films, does a nice job here. But there were some flaws. It sort of drags on, you really have to at least know something about Jason Bourne before you see it, otherwise you won't know what in the heck is going on,you get a sense of de ja vu, and lastly, Edward Norton.
Norton is such a great actor, but he really doesn't get to do a whole lot here, and if you're going to have someone as talented as Norton in a movie, you need to give him something to do. Overall, it's a pretty good movie. Don't listen to the critics, it's worth your time. Watch the first three before you go into it. You won't regret it.
B+