Good stand alone movie but a bit pointless

Rating: 7/10 (4 December 2012)

I get the feeling that the creators of the first Bourne movie had to work really hard to get the franchise off the ground - creating a script, using Robert Ludlum's books as source material, and pitching a synopsis to the necessary evil that is the film studio in order to obtain a budget that was just enough to complete the project. It was probably all very exciting and all those involved would have had a lot to lose if the film didn't work. The drive an ambition to make the best film they possibly could would have been present throughout the whole team, I would imagine, and this is where film making comes from a really good place - making a good film first, that will at least pay for itself, then making a profit second.
After the success of Bourne Identity the studio had every right to take the momentum and finish adapting the remaining books into movies. I had never read the books so wasn't really paying much attention when watching the opening of Identity - it was just another rental. I was made to sit forward and take notice though when Matt Damon's character Jason Bourne quickly disarmed two police officers leaving them unconscious without knowing how or why he had done it. These brilliantly choreographed fight scenes continued throughout as the plot unfolded and the memories of his past gradually came back to him. I couldn't wait for the next movie and was far from disappointed as yet more of his past was explained and the action became more intense in Supremacy. Ultimatum finished the franchise off nicely with Paul Greengrass' direction of the sequels creating a whole new darker and realistic edge to the mainstream action movie with its documentary style camera work and an "in the action" feel to the fight and chase scenes. James Bond take note.
So job well done. You have an ex CIA assassin on the run with memory loss (Jason Bourne) and fantastic intensity in the operations rooms, headed up by the amazing Pamela Landy played by Joan Allen, as government agents track Bourne using satellite technology with a view to taking him out. They send "assets" out after him, who have been through a similar behavioural modification program as Bourne, with a view to putting him in a body bag by sundown. This now becomes a winning formula.
The Bourne Legacy picks up this mantle and runs with it very well. Although we don't see Jason Bourne, he is mentioned throughout and it is obvious this story runs along the same time line as Ultimatum. Jeremy Renner plays Aarron Cross - an "outcome" agent, similar to Bourne's "Treadstone" program, who seems fine with being an assassin until his program is shut down and the government decide to kill off the evidence. His escaping these attempts on his life is essentially the plot with added science fiction in the form of genetic modification through medication. His reliance on this medication leads him to Racheal Weisz's character who works in the development lab for said medication. She goes on the run with him, creating a love interest,while helping him to source more meds so he doesn't have a really bad come down and / or become incapable of defending himself.
Fight scenes are good but not quite as slick as in the original trilogy. It is nicely shot. He fights wolves like Liam Neeson and the original Moby soundtrack kicks in at the right moments.
Basically a good movie but is more a money making exercise with very credible actors, like Renner and Ed Norton, thrown in to try and hide the fact.