Review of The Bourne Legacy (2012) by Niklas G — 06 Apr 2018

Let's get one thing out of the way. The movie centers on the legacy of Jason Bourne. Hawkeye is not meant to be his replacement. Another helpful tip for those who want to see the movie. Watch the original trilogy first largely because most of the story takes place around the same time as Ultimatum, which itself has elements that pick up from where the last two films left off despite its endings not feeling like cliffhangers.

The performances are compelling enough, the action is decent and the story has an interesting concept. There's just one problem: after a somewhat slow-moving first half, the second half moves at a relentlessly fast pace.

When the movie ended, I was shocked that that's how it ended. It barely felt like an ending at all. Matt Damon's absence. Need I say more about that? There are also some editing problems, making the narrative occasionally give me a bigger confusion-induced headache than a Christopher Nolan movie.

It sometimes makes it impossible to tell who's fighting who in the action sequences. The Bourne Legacy has good scenes and it focuses on a "what if?" scenario where Bourne's actions have consequences on other CIA members but seeing how the next Bourne movie doesn't even have them team up, you're probably better off skipping this one.