Good, but should and could be so much better

Rating: 5/10 (24 August 2012)

Where do i start with this movie, I have very mixed feelings about it. If judged by the standards of the previous Bourne movies then it is at best mediocre and thats probably being a bit too generous. If judged on its own and ignoring its predecessors then it's actually pretty OK.
Lets start with the positives. The action scenes are for the most part well shot and edited. The main chase scenes suffers from a few too many close up shots and quick cuts which can make it a bit hard to tell exactly what's happening but overall it's pretty good.
Jeremy Renner is another plus, he does an excellent job with a very poor script and tries his best to bring some life to the role. By far the biggest plus point of the movie is Rachel Weisz who does an excellent job as the damsel in distress and is the most believable character in the entire film.
Now for the negatives. The story line is awful, set to occur simultaneously with the events of the other Bourne movies Ed Nortons character tries to shut down all the various operations with super spies which led to the creation of Jason Bourne and Aaron Cross(Renner) in case the public becomes aware these programs exist. He then tries to kill all the agents and succeeds apart from Renner obviously.
This is where the problems start as Renner then has no other mission apart from scoring more of the drugs he needs to keep himself pumped up. He has nothing to discover or learn about himself or why this is happening and his character never develops. He doesn't try to find out who is responsible or why. He still has all his memories so there's nothing for him to learn and there are a series of pointless flashbacks to his previous life which tell us absolutely nothing.
The pace is very slow and takes ages to get going and when it does the chase lacks the suspense and sense of danger that made the previous Bourne films such a thrill. There is also no resolution its like the chase ends and then so does the film, I'm not sure if this is so it can lead into a sequel but Renner and Weisz are just sailing off into the sunset having accomplished nothing more then scoring his drugs, which then why does he need if he's just going to sail off and retire. Which makes the whole film seem very pointless and like a complete waste of time.
By far the biggest plot whole which is completely inexplicable is that after Renner scores his drugs Norton sends another super spy to kill him. Fine you'd say, every movie needs an equally tough baddie to challenge the hero but they'd just killed off every other super spy and only Renner survived so how is this other guy suddenly available for work.
So overall not bad if you just want to watch some action and good chases but let down horribly by a poor script, storyline and complete lack of character development and purpose. A poor addition to the franchise and clearly released purely for an easy buck and not because there is anything to add the Bourne storyline.