Pauls Valley, Oklahoma —
Power is one of those things an individual can accomplish a lot of positive goals with, but it is often power that turns the best intentions for the “greater good” into disaster. Often more the imagined plot of the film world, absolute power through super secret military organizations raises an interesting point of how just because one might be able to get away with drastic measures consequence free doesn’t mean it should be done.
That aside, a good spy/assassin thriller no matter how silly the plot is just fun to watch and even though I’ve admittedly not seen the previous three in this series, it mostly stands up enough to deliver entertainment on it’s own. In fact, I now understand why people have really gotten into the franchise, which given enough interest could one day reach James Bond-like proportions. “The Bourne Legacy” adds up to standard popcorn action faire, perhaps even enough to pull in new fans while retaining most of the old ones.
Set some time after the events of “Ultimatum,” it seems the government programs linked to Jason Bourne like Outcome is losing it’s control over secrecy through continued media attention. The easy solution for Eric Byer (Edward Norton), the man overseeing these projects: wipe the slate clean and eliminate any connections to their clandestine operations.
Unfortunately for Uncle Sam, drug altered super agent Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) isn’t exactly a fan of their decision and decides to not only live, but break away from the program even if he has to take out a few “obstacles” along the way. Of course, he can’t do everything alone and enlists help of a similarly threatened Outcome scientist Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz), who engage in a spectacular chase scene for the ages. For newcomers like myself it’s a bit hard figuring out what’s going on for about the first half hour or so, but eventually enough is explained and audiences are pretty much caught up in the excitement.
What really helped carry the film was Renner’s performance, who pretty much continued his government style butt-kicking attitude from summer mega-hit “The Avengers.” Sure, he’s more “Captain America” than Hawkeye in this tale, but his attitudes and struggle are something easy to root for in each scene.
Teenage to adult guys will get the most entertainment out of this ride, though the ladies shouldn’t have to suffer too much since some intelligence gets mixed in for good measure. I doubt I’ll own it, but I won’t rule out watching it in passing once it hits television. Thus, my final verdict for “The Bourne Legacy” is three and one fourth out of five viruses.
Movie viewing experience courtesy of the Royal Twin Theater of Pauls Valley.
Arts
Related Photos
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Poster for the "Bourne Legacy," showing this week at the Royal Twin Theater of Pauls Valley. Relativity Media, Universal Pictures.
Discussion
‘Bourne Legacy’ a marathon of action excellence
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