Cast: Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton,Rachel Weisz , Joan Allen
MPAA Rating: Rated
PG13
In the wake of Jason Bourne's dismemberment of Operation Blackbriar, the CIA
decides to dispose of their other black ops programs, which includes the
termination of their field agents. However, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), an agent
from Operation Outcome, escapes from being executed and, with the help of an
Outcome scientist (Rachel
Weisz), sets out to expose the crimes of his superiors.
My Video Review
If there is one film series I fan boy out on it's the Bourne trilogy. Growing up I thought Jason Bourne was the coolest character in film, all the young kids wanted to be Batman or Superman but I wanted to be Jason Bourne. The one thing I always liked about the series was that even though I was young when I saw it and some of the plot points went over my head, I was still able to enjoy it and that says a lot for a film series. Once the sequel "Bourne Legacy" was announced with Jeremy Renner and Tony Gilroy taking over the reins from Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass, I was skeptical. I felt that Bourne Ultimatum did a good job at wrapping up the trilogy but that doesn't matter to Hollywood when all they see is a big bag of money. Once the trailers were released for the films, I got a little bit more excited. I was a big fan of Jeremy Renner from "The Hurt Locker" and "The Town", and felt he was the perfect choice to take over for Matt Damon in the film. Once I saw the film though, my original fears were reignited and I realized that this film was basically a cash grab off the Bourne Franchise. Jeremy Renner did a great job with the lead role. He was able to portray the cool character Matt Damon did to almost the same effect just a few notches below, but not bad at all. He proved with this role he has the ability to lead in a film and I hope some more roles begin coming his way. Rachel Weisz takes the reins as the female love interest. I felt her character was basically just used for a love interest as there was no real purpose to her character. I am really against in Hollywood where they just pair to random characters together to create a romance when there is no real emotional connection between the characters. Rachel Weisz did a fine job with the performance and her and Jeremy Renner played real well off each other it was basically just unnecessary. Someone I was looking forward to from seeing the teaser and real trailer was Edward Norton's character. Ed Norton's character was a brand new character introduced to the Bourne Franchise and seemed to play a big role but in the end he was about a big of waste of character than anyone. They hint at a connection between Ed Norton's character with Jeremy Renner but it's never explained and in the entire film they share one scene together and that one scene is in a flashback. I felt in that aspect that the trailer misled us and I feel that was a major cop out by the directors. This marks Tony Gilroy's first time directing a Bourne film as he had previously co-wrote the original trilogy alongside Paul Greengrass. I thought he did a fine job directing, he was especially good at filming action sequences. The only complaint there was that there really wasn't that many fight scenes in the film. In a film series that is really known for being action packed, I could tally up this film as probably having around 12 minutes of action in the entire film. The film consisted of a lot of dialogue and where a show like Breaking Bad can thrive off interactions between the characters, this film didn't have the good dialogue for this to thrive off of. Something I really appreciated that Tony Gilroy did was a more technical aspect in the shaky cam that "Bourne Ultimatum" had throughout the entire film. I remember watching that film and getting dizzy off of it so it was really good to see Gilroy tone back that use of shaky cam even though it was still in it. Even with everything I had seen in the film, nothing hurt the film more than the story. The main plot of the film focused on Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) trying to locate these green and blue pills that help stabilize his strength. Now that story would have been fine but it's what was going on in the background that hurt this story the most. To help keep Matt Damon's character relevant they introduced an entire subplot with him working on stopping tread stone and traveling around the world doing who knows what while the trial of Tread stone is going on. There is a scene in the movie where we learn Jason Bourne is in Manhattan and that's the last we hear of it. If this is a plot thread they plan on bring back I'm fine with it but I honestly don't see Matt Damon coming back to the franchise and if Jeremy Renner is going to take the lead then they need to give him full control of the film. With plot threads like underlying your film, it takes away from what we are seeing on the screen. In the third act of the film, the pace begins to pick up. It's the one part in the movie where I felt honestly intrigued the entire time. They introduced a plot thread that you think is going to lead somewhere but the entire film cuts short and ends really abruptly. I remember sitting with my friends and once the film ends we are all looking at each other- like is the film really over. You got that overbearing feeling that they were really just using all that for the sequel and holding back in this film, where that can really hurt your film. The funniest part of the ending though is when "Extreme Ways" from Moby plays cause the song has wrapped up all the previous scenes and this was like the lamest possible way to end the film. With the Bourne trilogy being an all-time favorite of mine, it was hard not to go in with high expectations. This film had the potential to take the film in so many different directions, its just really sad they chose the easiest and most mundane route with the plot. I still believe the film series has potential with Renner in the lead, its just they need to stop holding out for Damon and start giving more control of the film to Renner and it'll work out the best for all of them in the end. The film's about as good as last week's Total Recall. It's not an Oscar worthy film but is a passable time at the theater. If you are looking for a great film to see this weekend you're probably better off seeing "The Dark Knight Rises" for the sixth time.
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