Cinema Babble: Not Jason. Not Bourne. Not Bad.

The Flick: The Bourne Legacy

The Peeps: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Scott Glenn, Stacy Keach, Matt Damon's photo, Edward Norton, etc, etc.

The Dealio: In one sentence? 'There was never just one.' Told in a series of inter-slashing scenes that ricochet between the past and the present-and even uses scenes from the last Bourne installment- this is the story behind the story. Jason Bourne was not a one-off. But, there is a taddy bit of a blast from the past in the very first scene: a man is seen floating, spread-eagled, in the water, (an exact duplicate of a scene opening both the original book on Bourne and the first movie). This time around, we focus in on super-strong and -strategic loner, Aaron Cross (Renner), how he came to be part of the mysterious Outcomes program and also, what all of this has to do with a series of inexplicable-and violent- events in disparate parts of the globe. Weisz' Dr. Marta Shearing is another piece of the puzzle, and witnesses a terrifying shoot 'em up, barely escaping with her life. And, then, things get really chaotic. Someone, somewhere (my money is on DC), pushes fast-forward and the game is afoot. But what, exactly, is the game? What are the stakes? And why are all these people such terrible drivers?

The Grading Session: 4.78 pengies out of 5. A worthy successor to the Jason Bourne stories/films, this tale has both roots in the past and growth in its future. Renner goes from zero to ninety, emotionally, in the space of a single conversation. The support cast is well chosen- but I would have wished for an actress as doughty as Weisz is, to have been allowed to show a little more gumption earlier on in the movie, vice saving it till the last quarter of the film. Your mileage may differ.

Lessons Learned: If a two-person team shows up at your door unexpectedly, keep your eye on both. Also this: wolves are not simply doggies in the wild. Forget this at your own peril. Lastly this: apparently, no matter where you live, work, eat, shop, escape, no matter how off the grid you think you are, there are literally TONS of cameras/satellites/eavesdropping and filming devices ready to be re-tasked to reveal your every freckle, grimace  and syllable. AKA: the Person of Interest plot is real, man!