It's a mighty big hurdle for a movie to be called The Bourne Legacy that doesn't even have the title character in it. When I first heard about the film coming out, other than trying to maintain the lifeline of the franchise with a familiar name and the hopeful return of Matt Damon, I had no idea how it would work with another all-new character taking over the driving arc of the story. So, the way the story is presented actually does work by having this story taking place concurrently with the events happening in The Bourne Ultimatum. This way they can name drop Jason Bourne, as well have a couple of other characters make cameos and it doesn't feel entirely out of place. Although I will say that I was kind of disappointed that Joan Allen didn't have a much bigger role in this. When I say cameo, that's exactly what we get.

The Bourne Legacy isn't a bad movie, it's just feels lightweight to the epic Trilogy. Nothing against Jeremy Renner, but his character Aaron Cross just can't hold a candle to Jason Bourne and isn't particularly interesting. He's not even one of the elite soldiers and they say as much when it's revealed how they added IQ points to his score, just enough to allow him to qualify and gain admittance into the training program. I did like Rachel Weisz a lot though. But Edward Norton was kind of wasted in the role, as in underused.....not stoned. If you're a fan of the franchise, I think you might want to check this out and give it a Rent. But if you're looking to jump into the series for the first time, Legacy isn't the one to start with. By all means start with the Original Trilogy.