Sequels are often very divisive films. People either love them (Toy Story 2/3, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) or they hate them (Transformers 2/3, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). Jeremy Renner wants to make people forget about Matt Damon and love him in The Bourne Legacy.
It takes a detour from the three previous Bourne movies in a very major way: Jason Bourne is not in the movie. At all. Instead he is replaced by another super-solider, Aaron Cross (Renner). The movie is, plot wise, what you would expect from a Bourne movie. Bad people do bad things, Bourne kills a few of them, they try to kill him, and he kills more of them. Despite the retread of a familiar premise, the movies have managed to stay relatively decent, and this one is no exception.
Renner does a good job replacing Damon, which was to be expected. He’s been on a hot streak lately with The Hurt Locker, The Avengers, and The Town. He’s as brutal as Damon’s Bourne ever was, and in many ways more intelligent. The writers and directors made it a point to let you know that he would handle certain situations differently, without beating you over the head about it, which I liked.
The supporting cast does well enough, but none of them stand out like Renner. Rachel Weisz is essentially nothing more than a damsel in distress, which really, is all she ever is in movies (The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, Constantine) That said, she doesn’t make the movie worse at all, and has good chemistry with Renner.
The only real bad thing I can say about the movie is its ending. It’s not so bad plot-wise, or necessarily that it ruins the movie. It’s just really abrupt. You’ll find yourself wondering where the rest of the movie is, and that certainly leaves a bad taste in the viewer’s mouth.
All in all, The Bourne Legacy is a decent movie. I don’t know that I would watch it more than once, but it’s good fun. I give it a 6.5/10.