Though a little shallow in comparison to it's predecessors, The Bourne Legacy is still a bit entertaining

Rating: 7/10 (6 January 2017)

The Bourne trilogy not only made a stellar contribution to the action genre but effectively established Matt Damon as an unlikely action hero. From it's versatile mix of pulse-pounding thrills and adrenaline-charged action sequences, there is little wonder to why The Bourne trilogy has become a franchise cinema junkies have come to love. But some may ask: was a fourth installment all that necessary? While the franchise has virtually ran it's course required to sustain it as a firmly consistent series, a fourth installment (or perhaps a spin-off) would necessarily be a burden. However, this action thriller goes slightly different direction, taking its focus off the enigmatic Jason Bourne character and bogging down on an all new action hero set. It then all comes down to a plot limited with only narrative connections to the previous films In the process, this involves pulling director Paul Greengrass of the previous two films and the veteran lead Matt Damon out of the picture and substituting Tony Gilroy as director and Jeremy Renner as lead actor. Set shortly after the events of 'The Bourne Ultimatum', the film stars Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross, an agent of a Black Ops agency known as Operation Outcome who are set to expose the sinister agency known as Operation Treadstone who were pursuing after Jason Bourne in the previous films. When it's successor Company known as Blackbriar operated by Colonol Eric Byer (played by Edward Norton) conspire to eliminate him, Cross goes on the run with biochemist Dr. Marta Shearing (played by Rachel Weisz) to take them down.
It is understandable that moviegoers everywhere were met with skepticism upon learning that Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass would not be making their return. After all, it can be somewhat hard to fully engage in a newly introduced lead character following the departure of a veteran protagonist who was easily more charismatic. Shockingly though, this stand alone sequel carries a surprising amount for an entry veering off in a slightly unfamiliar territory for the franchise. Jeremy Renner boasts a fairly versatile flair as the freshman action hero Aaron Cross as he sets out to face off against the sinister consequences. Predictably so, he doesn't quite pack the same visceral spirit Matt Damon demonstrated in the trilogy. Nonetheless, he shows off an incredible adrenaline-fueled testosterone that gratefully stands out from the somewhat muddled script. Director Tony Gilroy who served as the writer for the previous Bourne films sets up a nice premise during the first half building up firm connections to 'The Bourne Ultimatum' with Jason Bourne only verbally mentioned several times throughout. The only problem is that the story is bit exposition-heavy for nearly half of it's two and a quarter-hour runtime and at times a bit too talky to the point where it falls victim to an occasionally slug pacing. And the fun doesn't quite takeoff until the final half-hour when we reach a climatic action sequence. From there on, that is when we watch Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz on the run as bullets starts flying and cars starts flipping. These two easily catch the eyes in the midst of the large cast including Edward Norton is given very little to do offer than conspiring the plot to kill the lead character.
The Bourne Legacy may fall shallow to the original Jason Bourne trilogy in terms of direction, it still boasts a surprising amount of entertainment enough to distract viewers from the unfavorable absence of Matt Damon's Jason Bourne. In conclusion, it is a slick action thrill ride that works fine even if Tony Gilroy's script and direction suffer in a few areas.