'Universal Soldier' meets 'The Bourne Identity'!

Rating: 8/10 (15 August 2012)

'THE BOURNE LEGACY': Four Stars (Out of Five)
'UNIVERSAL SOLDIER' meets 'THE BOURNE IDENTITY'; this spin-off of the Bourne franchise finds a new star, Jeremy Renner, taking over for Matt Damon as a new character with his own story in the Bourne universe. Like the other films it's loosely based on Robert Ludlum's books and takes one book's name only (while creating it's own entirely new premise, just like the other films in the series). This one tells the story of Aaron Cross, a member of a black ops program where soldiers are given pills to enhance their physical and mental abilities. They're all assigned to be terminated due to the actions of Jason Bourne in the previous films. This installment was directed by Tony Gilroy, who co-wrote all of the previous Bourne films as well as this one (with his brother Dan Gilroy). The movie co-stars former Bourne actors Joan Allen, Albert Finney, David Strathairn and Scott Glenn as well as newcomers Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton. The movie is a little more dumbed down than the other installments but it's still packed with breathtaking action scenes and moves at a breakneck pace.
Renner is Aaron Cross, a former U.S. soldier of below average intelligence who's had his physical and brain powers enhanced through a black ops program called Operation Outcome. In the operation he is known as 'Number Five' and is addicted to green pills which make him stronger and blue pills which make him smarter. If he stops taking the pills he loses all his special powers and possibly something worse. When Jason Bourne (Matt Damon, seen only in pictures) starts causing havoc and leaking government information CIA operative Eric Byer (Norton) decides to have the operation terminated and all the operatives killed. Cross escapes death and leads the CIA to believe he's dead. He then makes his way to the home of one of the Doctors in the program, Marta Shearing (Weisz), in order to get more pills. Shearing is wanted dead too so the two go on the run together. They're soon hunted down though by another government super soldier Larx-03 (Louis Ozawa Changchien), who was trained to be a relentless killing machine.
The film is very similar in style and mood to the other Bourne films (with a little bit of 'UNIVERSAL SOLDIER' thrown in as well, like I said). It is involving despite it's somewhat cartoonish premise and the two lead characters are likable despite their limited character development. Weisz and Norton are both on their A game like always and Renner proves he can be a dependable action star. It would be nice to see another film or two with him in the lead (hopefully with a smarter script) and a later pairing of him and Damon would be awesome. Overall the movie works, not quite as good as the other three films but about what you'd expect from the fourth film in a series like this and a reboot to boot.
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