The Boring Legacy

Rating: 2/10 (11 August 2012)

There should have only been one.
By the time the overlong 135 minute The Bourne Legacy realizes that it's an unwelcomed addition to the best trilogy in the history of cinema, it completes its minuscule 20 minutes of uninspired action roughly 2 minutes before the credits roll. If, in lieu of action, they wanted this as a "thinking person's" thriller, they also failed on that, as this was one of the most basic films, spy or not, I've seen in quite awhile.
Sowhat are we left with? Great performances? No. Plot twists? Nada. Surprises? Nope. Decent cinematography? Okay, it gets that for its hour-long stroll through the snowy Alaskan territory. In addition, I will say, after several mediocre Edward Norton performances, he stepped it up this time.
Sadly, I cannot say the same for one of my favorite actors and the person that was supposed to carry this feature: Jeremy Renner. I've been a fan of his for a decade now and he always seems to be getting better and improving himself and the roles he takes on. Well, no one's perfect and he took a giant leap back here. Mercifully, as the movie closed – and the end was welcomed, by the way, he did step up his game, but only so slightly. Overall, Renner's Aaron Cross wasn't just the faux pas Bourne-spy; his role was literally an idiot that appeared more lucky at times than actually trained.
The 3-minute-plot boils down to the final days of the true Bourne legacy when the big bad government is permanently shutting down all the programs surrounding the super-spies. On the target screen is semi-spy Cross and he nearly escapes assassination only to be worried about his drug addiction. (Don't ask; I've already gone too far...) He does team up with another nearly assassinated doctor of the program and together they're somewhat tracked with ten times less the suspense and awesomeness found in the original Bourne trilogy.
It thoroughly goes without typing that this chapter was as needed as Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was. But, that's the bottom line fact. While not the worst movie I've seen, it is 100% unnecessary and felt like one very, VERY long deleted scene from the original films. Hell, even the action and fighting were so amateurish that it's an insult to stamp Bourne's name on this and not just name it Cross.
They should have; you will feel cross when you leave the cinema.