If this had been the 1st Bourne...

Rating: 7/10 (20 August 2012)

If any movie deserves a Medal of Valor or an "A" for Effort this year I doubt there'll be a movie any more deserving than this one.
TBL is a really cool movie that is a lot of fun to watch, really well acted & directed. The script is convoluted but so what? It's not like the other "Bourne" films were lessons in straight ahead plotting & that is part of their appeal. You must pay attention to them.
Renner is an excellent choice to carry the "Bourne" DNA. In this movie the best plot twist is that he does it & very well. Rachell Weisz is the other best addition to the "Bourne" mythos. She is a lot of fun to watch.
The set pieces are waaay better than I thought they'd be. The sci-fi element is totally plausible & welcome.
HOWEVER, Paul Greengrass & Matt Damon raised the bar so high in the 2 prior Bourne movies you had to know that it couldn't be beat. It isn't here & not due to lack of effort.
There are nuances that Damon brought to character --a certain wistfulness, melancholy, doomed acceptance-- that Renner got better at capturing as this movie went on. This is Renner's best role since "The Town" & he makes a lot of it.
I guess the thing I miss most about this version of the legacy is what drives a lot of people nuts about director Paul Greengrass. I love his style of directing. His unfairly maligned visceral style really keeps me on the edge of my seat & joyfully off-balance. That jittery feeling is mostly lacking here & ergo about half of the adrenaline rush --but miraculously only half.
If you can separate TBL from the other "Bournes" then this is a movie that rates higher than the 7 stars I give it.