Dir: Tony Gilroy
Starring: Jeremy
Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdtUdEoE-Q4
The
studio milks its cash cow for a few more dollars in this fourth instalment of
the Bourne franchise but without Bourne.
Set
during The Bourne Ultimatum, we are
introduced to fellow Bourne programme member Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner). Anticipating
the fallout from one of their black ops programmes being revealed to the public,
a CIA team, led by Eric Byer (Edward Norton), decide to dismantle the programme
which includes killing everyone involved in it, including the scientists, one
of which is Dr Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz). Cross goes on the run, taking
Marta Shearing with him, to get the medicine which he was given as part of the
programme and has run out of.
When
this film was first announced everyone asked, what’s the point? The answer
unfortunately is there isn’t really. The film only has tenuous links to the
Bourne trilogy. As you probably know it doesn’t feature Matt Damon as Jason
Bourne and his name and names of other characters and organisations from the
previous films are mentioned which attempts to link the films. The film is just
a generic, and overly long, action film with quite a few action moments but
nothing memorable or which stand out. Neither is the action as inventive as the
previous Bourne films, no one gets killed with a biro or a rolled up magazine.
A lack of originality mars the film. Things go bang, and people get punched
which is fine but never really exhilarating.
Aaron
Cross is never as good a character as Jason Bourne, despite the likability of
Jeremy Renner. With Bourne we had more than just a man surviving. Bourne was
trying to find out who he is, what happened to him, what his back story was.
With Cross, all he’s doing is trying to stay alive and that doesn’t give us
enough to hold on to.The film has good actors, trying their best with what little they are given.
The
film also never really goes anywhere. It starts fairly slowly and then is just
a fairly uninteresting chase for an hour and then it just ends. The film doesn’t
wrap things up to a satisfying conclusion and pretty much just sets the path
for another lacklustre sequel.
A solid
Saturday night action offering with only very loose ties to the original Bourne
films. Competently made and acted but it doesn’t deserve to be a part of the
franchise. You won’t remember it after a couple of months. Should have stuck at
three.
2 out of 5 Buttons
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