Imagine my surprise to find a highly intelligent espionage film turn out to have sfnal roots. But that is what shows up in the fourth Bourne film. I won't spoil any of the story other than to say there is, at least partially for me, some strong resonance with Daniel Keyes's famous story, "Flowers for Algernon," and its film counterpart, Charly, and I heard one fellow viewer mention the Terminator films as we exited the theater (a bit of a stretch but I can see where he's going with the comment).
Legacy isn't as action-packed as its trio of predecessors, although there are a couple of nicely-done sequences. It's a transition film to a new franchise star (maybe; Universal has several options) that is presented with a terrific story that doesn't insult the viewer. Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz are very good, with Renner offering a much more damaged, angst-filled black ops agent than Matt Damon did. A great supporting cast with Edward Norton, Stacy Keach, and cameos from earlier films rounds out the production.
Announced weekend boxoffice is $40.3M, taking top spot, but well below the $69M of the third film's opening. Good but not great money. Maybe just good enough to jumpstart a fifth film.
Highly recommended.
... Reed
Legacy isn't as action-packed as its trio of predecessors, although there are a couple of nicely-done sequences. It's a transition film to a new franchise star (maybe; Universal has several options) that is presented with a terrific story that doesn't insult the viewer. Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz are very good, with Renner offering a much more damaged, angst-filled black ops agent than Matt Damon did. A great supporting cast with Edward Norton, Stacy Keach, and cameos from earlier films rounds out the production.
Announced weekend boxoffice is $40.3M, taking top spot, but well below the $69M of the third film's opening. Good but not great money. Maybe just good enough to jumpstart a fifth film.
Highly recommended.
... Reed
