kinda wish this movie wasn't made

Rating: 3/10 (11 December 2012)

The first three Bourne movies have to be my favorite non-superhero action trilogy. Associating this one with the Bourne name kinda cheapens the franchise for me.
The first 30 mins or so of the movie feels like a we are watching "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" only its "Where in the World is Jason Bourne". We see traces of him (ie his name etched in wood) but rather then add some sense of mystery or intrigue it only seems to highlight what the movie is lacking...Jason Bourne.
A lot of the same actors are here and I must say its an incredible cast. Edward Norton, Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz are new and really I couldn't ask for better additions. Jeremy Renner I loved in The Hurt Locker and Edward Norton is one of my all time favorite actors. However, it doesn't seem that Tony Gilroy, who has written the screenplays for all the Bourne movies but takes his first crack at directing one here, really know how to coax the best performances out of his actors. Especially at the beginning I couldn't help but feel the ever so subtle sense that I was watching actors act. Even the actors that played the same role in the previous titles seemed just a little more 1 dimensional then before. Jeremy Renner is the exception though. His performance is great and pretty much caries the movie.
Overall, the plot felt a bit contrived as though it was created to milk some more money out of the Bourne name. There are some really cool chase scenes and some good action once the movie gets going. If you just want to see action this movie does it really well. Having been in Manila at the time this movie was being filmed there and being offered the chance to be an extra it was pretty cool to recognize several areas.