The Bourne Legacy (2012) - Movie Review

Rental month continues with the latest installment to the Bourne franchise.  I guess it would have to be a franchise now, as The Bourne Legacy is neither a reboot nor a direct sequel to The Bourne Ultimatum.  The events of Legacy seem to take place around the same time of the events of Ultimatum, but I'm not entirely positive of that, as it's been a while since I've seen any of the previous Bourne films.  In fact, I would strongly recommend that you refresh with at least Ultimatum before seeing Legacy if you have the time.

The movie starts with a shot of Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross in the mountains retrieving an object.  Then, you're taken back to Stacy Keach and Edward Norton talking about shutting programs down and containment.  There are lots of callbacks and references to the previous films as they are doing this.  There are tons of code names and terms being thrown arond and it was tough to keep it all straight without a cheat sheet or something.  This goes on for a large portion of this 135 minute movie.  At times I felt like you could have called this The Bourne Meeting.  It really felt like much of this movie was Edward Norton's character talking about shutting things down, ordering people around and trying to do damage control.

While this managed to keep my interest, since it is a good cast and it's well acted, I kept wondering when they were just going to get on with it.  There are very few action sequences in the entire movie and most of the early scenes with Aaron Cross are very short.  It's not until almost the last 20-30 minutes until it really takes off.  I just wish there had been more of it or maybe quickened the pace the first hour or so.  They simply took too much time to tell the story they did.

Cross's main motivation in the film is to get more chemicals.  They explain that there are two types of chemicals these agents take: a green pill and a blue pill.  Once enhances the body, and the other their mind.  The catch is, if you don't take them at regular intervals or run out, your abilities degrade rapidly.  They mention these 'chems' a lot, and with all this talk of greens and blues, I couldn't shake the craving for M&M's throughout the film.  I had to pick up a bag after the movie.  Bring M&M's if you plan on seeing this.

Anyway, so Cross runs out of drugs and is simply trying to get more so he can retain his abilities.  That's it.  He's not trying to expose anyone, there's nobody he wants to kill, or anything like that.  This leads him to seek out Rachel Weisz, one of the scientists that used to do work with the agents.  Weisz is also on the run once the cover up operation is in effect and everyone starts getting killed.

What keeps your interest are all the performances.  Jeremy Renner is focused as Cross.  Renner is one of those actors that you just can't take your eyes off of even when he's not saying anything.  The scenes with him and Weisz were very interesting.  Edward Norton was good too, but they didn't really give him much to do and it kind of felt like he was just playing Edward Norton.  There's not much to any of these people as far as character development or personality.

It's unusual that this is called The Bourne Legacy when the screenplay by Tony and Dan Gilroy (Tony also directed) has very little to do with the the actual Bourne book of the same name.  The story is after the original director backed out of Legacy, Matt Damon did too - MATT DAMON! - so they went back to the drawing board and decided to do another movie set in the same universe, but not actually about Jason Bourne.  I actually don't mind that they did this.  It opens up the possibility of bringing in other actors or going down different paths if they do additional movies.  At the same time, they could have simply continued with the Bourne story and just cast different actors, similar to what they do with Bond.  Oh well...

While I don't think The Bourne Legacy is a bad movie, I was a little disappointed.  It's strong cast keeps you interested, but there's too much behind the scenes action and not enough focus on the main character.  It's slowly paced and doesn't have the same punch (literally) as the previous films.  This is something much better suited for a rental.

3 (out of 5) Death Stars

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) - Movie Review

I really would love to know what goes on in Wes Anderson's head or where his mind goes to come up with this stuff.

Moonrise Kingdom is the story of young love, but as with many Wes Anderson films, is fleshed out with unusual characters, situations and dialog.  Similar to other Anderson films, the movie feels more like fairy tale than something that could actually happen.

The story takes place in the 60's on a small island.  Two young pre-teens, Sam and Suzy, meet and decide to run away together.  They plan this over a series of letters for a year.  Sam (Jared Gilman) is an orphan and really isn't able to bond or relate to anyone from his "Khaki Scout" troop, where Suzy (Kara Hayward) also feels like she doesn't identify her family.  Once it's discovered that they've both run away, this causes a panicked search by Suzy's parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand), the scout troop and scoutmaster (Edward Norton), and local policeman Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis).

If it wasn't so tastefully done, I might have been creeped out more by the burgeoning love between Sam and Suzy.  We are dealing with kids here and during some of their more intimate moments it can be a little uncomfortable to watch.  It works because you actually become invested in their adventure and want to see them prevail against the odds. The whole movie hinges on whether or not you like them.  Anderson made a bold choice going with two newcomers in his lead roles, but Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward were both adorable and sympathetic.  Who doesn't remember their first love or crush?  Their portrayal is very heartfelt and I'm impressed Anderson got these this kind of performances out of two kids, let alone kids in their first film.  It's a testament to his skill as a director.

The adults are really secondary characters here.  Of course Bill Murray is back; you can't have a Wes Anderson film without him, but I didn't feel like he had all that much to do.  His character goes through the movie seemingly depressed, contrasted with Frances McDormand's frantic portrayal as Suzy's mother.  Ed Norton and Bruce Willis both were fantastic.  I love seeing actors play against type and they both did a great job here.  Ed Norton plays his scoutmaster with an earnestness that defines his character.  Willis gives a more subdued performance as he bonds with Sam, and eventually butt heads with Social Services (Tilda Swinton).  There are many other fun, smaller roles, but I won't spoil those for you.

There's a great use of color, music and attention to detail that really makes this feel authentic. Anderson has always had a very distinct visual style and his films feel like they are from a different time.  This time we actually know they are in the 60's, but it doesn't feel forced into that period.

Moonrise Kingdom does start out a little on the slow side, but it continues to build and get more unusual along the way.  It's only 93 minutes, so the pacing overall was good.  It never felt like it was going to run on too long.

The script by Anderson and Roman Coppola is full of the deadpan and quirky humor you've come to expect.  Anderson's films have never really been for everyone, so I can see people complaining that this it too cute or too quirky.  This isn't the film that's going to win you over if you haven't been a fan of his previously.  If you aren't familiar with him, then this is a good starter film into his universe.

After a few lackluster movies, Moonrise Kingdom shows that Wes Anderson is as strong as ever.  If you're a fan, then I think you're going to really love this.  It's a cute story about first love that has all the charm, humor and great performances you'd want.  This is in limited release, so it might not be playing near you, but don't hesitate to go a little out of your way for this one.

4.5 (out of 5) Death Stars