So Bourne Legacy, there is a lot to like here. “There was never just one.”, the catchy tag line for the latest in the Bourne series, should read “This won’t be the last one”. Fully loaded with adrenaline and kick ass performances, the nearly 3 hour film has you hesitating to grab that handful of popcorn, lest you miss something. Even without the presence Matt Damon (aside from flashbacks), “Bourne Legacy” maintains the high standards of the other films. In addition to some supremely awesome fight scenes, this film also operates under the assumption that the audience has brains! If you have no interest in espionage, intrigue, or conspiracy, or find remembering plot points difficult when they are not spelled out for you, then you might opt for waiting for the release of “The Expendables 2” instead.

Jeremy Renner brings a new element to the well series…memories! He is not a complete blank slate which adds more depth to his performance. It allows him to not be tormented by the eternal question on Jason Bournes’ mind (“who am I?”). Aaron cross is just as lethal as JasonÂ Bourne, maybe even more so. Instead he can focus all those attributes to keeping he and his allies alive during the heavy action scenes. Plus, the action is on par with movies like Mission Impossible (why do I feel these two series are so linked…) so it ensures you are properly entertained, not yawning during the explosions.

The supporting cast was as good as any Bourne film, although half the supporting cast in this movie was the supporting cast from the last movie, but that’s only because we have a lot of flash backs to the last movie so the supporting cast from that movie turns out to be the supporting cast from this movie. *whew*. Some new additions include Edward Norton, the mysterious, and powerful containment Agent Byer. Really, Norton doesn’t have much screen time, but when he is on you know it. I ended up wishing he was around more, even though he was sort of the bad guy.

The leads were both very good, Renner is decent as an action adventure character, as we have learned from Â MI:4Â and Avengers, so I have no problem with him becoming a headliner. Certainly more so than Taylor Kitsch. The other lead was Rachel Weisz, and she is ALWAYS good. She is just an excellent, dependable actress, and this is obviously why they gave her the most dramatic work. Pretty much everyone in the movie is a spy or works with spies, except her. She plays a doctor at a pharmaceutical company that, unbeknownst to her, is deeply connected to the Treadstone project. When things go bad she is forced on the run alongside Renner. It counter balances the institutional coldness of Renner’s super spy.

Now, on to the less than awesome stuff. The story is really complex, they inter weave it with the Bourne Ultimatum in such a way that you will not understand this movie that well, if you haven’t seen the previous movie. So in that regard, this movie is less a new series than it is a direct sequel to the other Bourne films. Something else, and most of you will have forgotten this, the Bourne movies can get pretty boring. Sure, the action is intense and awesome, but in between this scenes there is a LOT of dialogue, almost too much. Now I enjoy a good drama, and a movie doesn’t need to spice things up with a car chase to keep me interested, but this movie is selling itself as action films, and while it is, its also a character drama. Remember back when Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy was coming out? They sold that movie as an intense cold war movie, and it turned out to be an incredibly slow, wordy, personal drama. Not bad, just not what we were led to believe. Bourne Legacy, while a legitimate action movie, is definitely one meant more for the dramatic crowd. This is how it differs from Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol for instance, so if you are going to the theaters expecting THAT, you will be disappointed. But if you go to the theaters expecting something more along the lines of political thriller, like Sum of all Fears, or The Manchurian Candidate.

The Bottom Line:

All in all, a good film, a bit of a split vote though. Fans of the previous movies and of smart action thrillers, I say its worth your money for full price. People just looking for a straight up action movie, may want to just go Matinee on this one.

Until next time…