One of the most crucial things to understand is that The Bourne Legacy is not just another entry in the Bourne franchise.
No matter how much I liked and enjoyed the previous parts, in essence they were all very similar to each other. It was all about the action and thrills. Which can be seen as a good thing or a bad thing. I personally loved the action in the original and sequels, but I did notice especially in The Bourne Ultimatum that it was getting a little repetitive and hardly had real surprises plot wise.
The Bourne Legacy tries to take a different path. And looks into the events that have occurred in previous Bourne films from the outside. I thought that was quite clever since it makes you recall the plot and at the same time you see new events unfolding, making the overall story more comprehensible. That being said, the plot still is not that complicated, but structurally it is much easier to follow. Plus, with less focus on action there is more time to understand what is going on. However, don't worry, there is more than enough action and when it is present it is awesome. Jeremy Renner is a likeable action hero, and maybe even more convincing than Matt Damon was in this role. Rachel Weisz complements Renner very nicely, and both show that good acting does make the difference. At one point, the story centres around them, and it is a blast to see them in action.
However, then it also becomes apparent that there isn't really much to the plot. At this time in the film, huge actors like Stacy Keach and Edward Norton barely matter and feel a little wasted in their roles. It helps to mentally split The Bourne Legacy into two parts. One dealing with the overarching Jason Bourne plot line and the second dealing with another programmed secret agent trying to survive. With a running time of 135 minutes and just a little slow build up it might be off-putting for the fans of the first hour but if you stick with it, it will pick up the pace and never let up.
Overall, The Bourne Legacy offers a slightly different but very good viewing experience. One to watch!
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