The Bourne Legacy [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray] [2012]

The Bourne Legacy has been misunderstood since day one. It was not meant to reboot or replace Matt Damon's Jason Bourne, it was actually doing 2 things instead: buying time for Matt Damon to return while also expanding the Bourne world for additional characters to emerge. Taking place before, during, and after the events of Bourne Ultimatum, Legacy presents an eerie and even more disturbing premise: what if there are many more illegal black ops programs being run beyond just the one Bourne was trying to stop (Blackbriar) that the public as well as Bourne don't even know about. And what if these programs were taking human conditioning to the next level by not only "brainwashing" the assassins but enhancing them using cellular and gene therapy to boost their strength, speed, endurance, and cognitive skills. This many seem far-fetched now but this is exactly what is being researched as we speak. Tony Gilroy the director in fact confirms in the commentary that he consulted with a respected scientist/researcher about soldiers using gene/cellular therapy and the scientist confirmed that it is only a matter of time till this is put into practice in reality. If you can get past the "viral boost" aspect (which is treated well) then the movie is a solid action film with uniformly good performances, smart plotting, and essential Bourne elements including daring escapes, conspiracies, shadowy back room deals, car chases, and hand to hand combat. Plus it casts an ominous pall over the entire series when you realize that Bourne is "only the tip of the iceberg" and that there are many more "super assassins" out there doing the government's dirty work. Lastly, if you haven't seen Jason Bourne (Bourne 5, 2016), I recommending watching the original trilogy plus Legacy to get the complete backstory. The blu ray presentation is top notch with a high quality 1080p visuals and lossless DTS-HD sound plus informative extras and digital copies (UV and iTunes) so you can watch the movie on the go. If you're a Bourne fan grab Bourne Legacy at this great price!

There is a lot of conversation in the first 20 minutes of the movie, but Aaron Cross, the character played by Jeremy Renner, is silent and alone. His first line is, "I was trying to be polite." Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz are both completely believable in their roles. As are the rest of the cast, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach, et al. Renner's character is appealing whether he speaks or not. It looks as if Jeremy Renner did most of his stunts himself. Watching him run across the uneven rooftops of Manila, he looks like a skier. He is an agile, athletic actor who can be and do whatever is called for. I was also impressed by Rachel Weisz who is convincing as a scientist lost in a world of terror. You can almost hear her heart beating as the scenes explode around her. I hope they do another Bourne film with Renner & Weisz....

Great movie! I have the whole set of Bourne movies.

I loved the continuation of the whole Jason Bourne/top-secret agent/government intelligence/conspiracy/cover up series. Who could possibly fill Jason Bourne's shoes? Maybe now that we've seen Aaron Cross, as another one of the program's agents gone solo, they'll start a new series with him. Great movie, great action scenes, plots, twists, and turns. The only thing that I absolutely didn't like was how they portrayed the wolves to be the vicious, man-eating, blood thirsty predators in the wilderness/mountains in the movie. They should have done a lot more research on the topic of wolves and not gone with the popular misconceptions of what people think wolves are like. This movie loses points w/ me in that regards. If it had a better scenario involving the wolves, or no wolves at all, I would recommend. Everything else was great.

Yes, its well noted by now that The Bourne Legacy is just a way for Universal to make more money with a different star, and the film suffers a bit because of Matt Damon's lack of presence, but Jeremy Renner's Aaron Cross is a pleasant enough diversion. The PQ and AQ is terrific with the 35mm film transfer and a scene or two of digital photography lends itself well to BluRay, with sharp, detailed images and an awesome soundfield to make you duck for cover from every gunshot heard and felt throughout. The extras are pleasant if not totally in-depth with a few features to satisfy temporarily, with the filmmaker commentary being the main draw here. The featurettes are decent as well as some deleted scenes, but overall nothing to get worked up over.

Enjoyed this new movie in the Bourne Series. Not sure it was as strong as the first group in which Matt Damon played Jason Bourne, but it held it's own. I'm glad that they actually created a new group of characters in this one and the actors did a good job of pulling this off. There are a couple of points in the story where I felt they jumped over some elements too quickly and the character was all of a sudden in a different city. However, overall it was possible to keep up with what was going on. This is a good movie with plenty of action to keep the viewer engaged.

Different from the original Bourne series but the same action

If you like the Bourne movies this fourth one in the series, with Jeremy Renner as the test subject, gives you more in the understory of the secret soldier program. This story takes place in the same time period as the third movie; we get a little more insight into the secret soldier program and that the agency is now trying to end it, and the test subject soldiers, to bury the flaws of the program. But of course, in addition to Jason, there is at least one more 'legacy' soldier who discovers all is not right with being a robot after recieving an assignment gone awry. The fun begins and he starts looking for answers in the face of attempted assassinations...