The Bourne Legacy / La peur dans la peau: L'héritage de Bourne (Bilingual)

Has Matt Damon given up the Bourne movies? He excelled as Jason Bourne and is a hard act to follow. Bourne Legacy is less of a sequel, and more of a spin off.

Certainly elements of it work very well. Jeremy Renner brings his own brand of intensity to the role, and I like Rachel Weisz as the doctor with whom he goes on the run. I loved the way the scene in her house unfolded with all its twists and turns.

Renner plays a character not named Bourne, but a former soldier named Aaron Cross. Unlike Bourne he remembers everything but seems to be unaware that he was part of a sinister experiment testing for biological weaponry, and he constantly needs medication or something bad will happen.

It's several years later. Treadstone has become an embarrassment, requiring clean up before it gets even more embarrassing.

In covert parlance cleanup means kill. He has been part of a biological warfare experiment though he seems unaware of this, and has to take certain medication. He does have mad lethal skills like Bourne, and he is extremely resourceful. So he becomes the loose end that fights back.

Edward Norton brings his A game as the spook on his trail, giving an outstanding performance and the array of technology at his disposal is impressive.

Matt Damon's Bourne movies are a hard act to follow, nevertheless Bourne Legacy does have its moments. I liked the fact that the answer to the problem lay in the Phillipines, and Cross is resourceful enough to fake a passport with new identities while both he and the doctor are being searched for at the highest levels, and the impressive technology being used to catch them is actually pretty scary. I also found the drone sequences in the wilderness very engaging.

Can they really do all this?

I particularly liked the action sequences particularly the motorbike chase scene in the Philippines, and how the doctor initially lacking any defense skills before she meets Cross, now gets some aggression and contributes realistically to a memorable action sequence, while will probably be the strongest memory I take from this movie.

If you are a Bourne fan, and seen all the movies, your reaction might be similar to mine, I found it a worthwhile experience, and I think that most people having enjoyed the previous Bourne movies will enjoy this too. I hope this was helpful.

I love all the previous Bourne movies. This fell way short of the mark. As the actors are usally good, I blame the director. I sold it as soon as I suffered through it.

The brilliance of the movie is the fact that it is a parallel tale. Aaron Cross is another soldier in the same/similar program as Jason Bourne. He is then hunted as part of the shutdown/cleanup that the intelligence agency bosses are trying cover up.

Great adventure sequences. The movie takes us to far off lands. It is also appreciated that the director treats the viewers like adults. Some of the chase scenes show the protagonists missing (the Doctor does not quite smash the bad guy in the face, but almost falls off the motorcycle). Also the movie ends without full closure. The evil intelligence agency bosses are not taken to jail, or killed off... rather Cross and the Doctor just escape ... with no clear cut destination or end. This is just like life... so well done.

Not fantastic. Not the best or most intense Bourne film. Interesting and likeable.