Film Club checks out Bourne’s Legacy
Matt Damon may be gone, but the Bourne franchise lives on with fourth instalment The Bourne Legacy. But what did our Film Clubbers think of it?
(Spoiler-heavy, as per usual)
ROSANNA ‘As someone who regards the original three Bourne films as one of the finest movie trilogies of all-time, I was extremely reticent about this as I assumed it was purely financially-motivated.’
‘Though quite evidently not anywhere near on a par with the previous films, I thought it was a credible thriller in its own right. I was prepared to be highly disappointed, but actually left pleasantly surprised.’
‘As a sequel (or more accurately – a ‘sidequel’ as people are now calling it) it’s safe to say you would be highly confused by the plot had you not watched the previous instalment.’
‘For me it ticked all the familiar boxes – visually spectacular fight scenes and impressive car/motorbike chase sequences. It’s not re-inventing the wheel, it’s just sticking to a winning formula.’
‘I don’t usually like Jeremy Renner to be brutally honest, but I’m a step closer to liking him now.’
CHRIS M ‘Bourne Legacy is a solid addition to the franchise. It seamlessly blends established characters with new ones, whilst keeping to the original formula. Spy satellites, electronics surveillance, fights, chases, cross and double cross…it’s all present and doesn’t suffer from the lack of Damon at all.’
‘I never fail to enjoy Rachel Weisz. She’s a great actor and shone in this, believably changing from a girl in peril to strong woman as the film progressed. Also, I thought Renner was great.’
‘I like a good meaty character and a top notch bike/car chase as much as the next man and personally I thought Legacy delivered on both counts.’
‘Was it needed? Not really, but I really liked it as an addition to the franchise and want to see a sequel.’
MAXINE ‘I really like the original three films, but I was most disappointed with this one.’
‘I snoozed through the first 40 minutes (which I have NEVER done, and I had my full 8 hours the night before). I found the plot weak and the fight/chase scenes forgettable.’
‘I think Jeremy Renner was quite good, but Rachel Weisz was a tad annoying.’
‘I re-watched The Bourne Identity this morning and it just highlighted for me how flat the plot and characters were. I thought the other Bourne films were clever and exciting…this one, sadly, was not.’
‘It should have been a standalone movie; forget the Bourne thing and re-write parts of the script and I think it could have worked. I think I’m going to give this a 2.5 out of 5. And that’s being kind.’
RAGHAV ‘I think comparing Legacy with the trilogy doesn’t work well for it. I could tell it was a completely different film within the first 15 minutes and thus enjoyed it much more.’
‘As for Renner, I like him in most of the roles he has taken. He does well for Legacy too, but he is no comparison to Damon – at least when it comes to Bourne.’
‘I’m indifferent towards Rachel Weisz. She did well, but it’s a role any actress could have played – nothing special.’
‘Everything was cookie-cutter… the hero figures out everything instantly, most of the action, the bad guys… It’s all by the book.’
‘If it had been a Dolph Lundgren film I could care less about character development, but if you put Renner and Norton in a film, any film, I want them acting their best with characters that help them do that.’
KARL ‘I think it worked as a standalone. I haven’t watched the other films and it managed to explain everything I needed to know.’
‘I loved the film – I found it interesting and very exciting.’
JEFF ‘More like The Bourne Pharmacy; a dull and an unnecessary chapter of treadwater.’
‘I love Renner, but he failed to work his magic here. Weisz was good, but it’s all so formulaic. Why must the agent in these films always have the help of a pretty woman? This was some seriously cookie-cutter film-making.’
‘I think Renner can carry a film, but not this one. In fairness, he really wasn’t given a compelling character to work with. He also wasn’t trying very hard.’
‘The lab shooting was the only engrossing aspect of the entire film. Everything else was boring or a poor re-hash of what we’ve seen in previous Bourne films.’
IVAI ‘A weak and messy plot with a sudden ending. It made me wish I’d watched something else to be honest.’
‘I like Jeremy Renner but he just didn’t do it for me in this; I didn’t care for any of the characters at all. They felt very flat.’
‘The whole plot was weak and at the end I just thought “is that it?”’
‘The problem was, it was trying to be both intelligent and an action movie. It sucked at both. You don’t need a smart script and character development if it’s an all-out action flick but if you’re committed to a ‘smart’ plot you need the script to support it. This didn’t.’
‘It’s not worth a sequel but if it does well financially, it might well get one. I for one shall not be watching.’
STEVE I thought it was very disappointing, although it was quite good in the end – once you’d got past the first 45 minutes of trying to stay awake.’
‘Even though there were lots of action scenes, they just weren’t exciting. It was nothing compared to the previous Bourne films. I’ve been jokingly calling it The Not-Bourne Legacy for weeks and it turned out to be a pretty accurate dig.’
‘I think it would’ve worked better as a standalone film, rather than a tagged on cash-in on the Bourne name.’
CHRIS R ‘I thought the film was alright, but nothing special.’
‘Jeremy Renner was a good addition to the universe but it misses Jason Bourne. All those references to him and what he’s doing just reminds you that there are better films out there.’
‘Ed Norton was good, but anyone could have played that role.’
‘Legacy lacked action till the last 20 minutes or so. It just started to get a bit pointless!’
‘I think if a sequel is made they should bring back Damon, and maybe have him team up with Renner.’
Oh Jason Bourne, how we miss you. Come back for the next one?
It starts off all clever-like, with an overlap between the third act of The Bourne Ultimatum, but quickly descends into a plot that’s both boring and overly complicated. How convenient is it, for example, that the only surviving scientist in an entire pharmaceutical company happens to be gorgeous and female? Already, we were feeling like we’d seen this all before.
That feeling didn’t go away for the entire two hours-plus runtime, with even the car chases and crash-wallop action scenes falling a bit flat. After all, how involved can we really get in a plot that revolves around one man getting his hands on a few pills? Yawnsville.
The performances themselves are…OK. Renner acquits himself well, but never really escapes from the shadow of Matt Damon. And how many franchises can one man make? Rachel Weisz, an Oscar-winner not too long ago, spends the entire time doing her best terrified-face and running around like a headless chicken, while Ed Norton just gets shafted.
And one final word to the guys behind this flick – if you’re going to call something an action movie, it needs more than 20 minutes of action. Just sayin’.
But just what is this Film Club malarkey all about? It’s simples, really. Each week we send a pair of cinema tix (ODEON or Cineworld, whichever is best) to 10 of our most active Facebook/Twitter followers. We put the film we’re going to see to the vote, and the winning film is the one we all go to see. Then we all sit around on Facebook on the Sunday night (6.30) and chat about it. Magic. Sound like something you want to get involved with? Drop us a line at twitter.com/f_t_r_c or on Facebook at on.fb.me/d4dMv8
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I thought Rachel Weisz was the best thing in this terrible film. The only actor who brought something to her role.