The Bourne Legacy

We watched The Bourne Legacy last week. It was the first movie we watched on our new tv. Every now and then there was a scene that was brilliantly detailed with vivid colours. It just adds extra pleasure to watching movies. This fourth movie in the Jason Bourne franchise doesn’t star Matt Damon as Jason Bourne but we see Jeremy Renner aka Hawkeye playing the lead role of Aaron Cross. A couple of scenes from The Bourne Ultimatum are used in the story which makes clear this story is taking place at the same time. As a matter of fact, the events in The Bourne Ultimatum are the trigger for what happens in The Bourne Legacy. At first I had to get used to seeing Jeremy Renner in this role but after that I could actually enjoy it. There is of course a lot of action and there are many references to the previous movies so it helps if you have seen them. It is a bit more slick visually and less brutal in some of the fight scenes but the main justification for this movie in my view is that it explains and makes more or less ‘believable’ why Jason Bourne is so smart, fast, strong and hard to kill. So in the Bourne universe it definitely has its place but as a stand alone it is not as gripping as its predecessors. That said, the story is actually well done but a bit complicated to follow because of all of the references. Watching it a second time will help catching some of the reference you might have missed the first time. No complaints about the action and suspence built into the movie. Except for explaining the black ops programs and how the CIA is trying to enhance their spies both mentally and physically the story is very limited : spie being hunted by his own organisation to keep things secret. As in the previous movies there are quality actors in the cast. Besides Jeremy Renner we also see Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton starring in the movie.