Simply put, “The Bourne Legacy” is a movie about a man and his pills, and a plot to kill him and his fellow juiced-up undercover operatives because their CIA program has been compromised and must be dismantled, although you may not be able to understand that for a while as the film’s plotline begins in a very obscure fashion.
Jeremy Renner of “Hurt Locker” fame stars as a Jason Bourne type who is in the same super-secret program as Bourne. It’s an operation that gives the clandestine agents extraordinary strength and mental abilities through the use us very specialized medications that produce a virus. Rachel Weisz appears as a PhD scientist in the program that helps evaluate the agents medically and monitor their medications and results. Renner and Weisz end up on the lam together when it’s Renner’s character’s time to be eliminated.
Guiding the government’s dastardly plot to kill off their own guys is Edward Norton, aided by Stacy Keach, Albert Finney and David Strathairn. Every line Strathairn has is delivered liked he’s playing Moses in a biblical epic.
“The Bourne Legacy” is not nearly as interesting or engrossing as the earlier films with Matt Damon. It’s not Renner’s fault. The script in this latest episode is just all action, and it does it well. Escape and evade is the thrust of the story, and it’s presented in a tireless fashion. But after a while, it becomes tedious and repetitive.
The film’s final moments have a kind of James Bond look, but by then it’s a little too late. A movie about little blue and yellow pills needs more.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194173/
