Director: Tony Gilroy
Year Released: 2012
Rating: 1.5
Over-plotted drivel in a franchise that probably should have ended with the third Jason Bourne movie but for some reason continues ... and it's not simply the absence of Matt Damon that's such a problem. In this one, Jeremy Renner's Alex Cross character is a super soldier addicted to mysterious pills that keep him operating at a high level, and he has to seek out a scientist (Rachel Weisz) to keep him well-supplied - meanwhile, the U.S. government is trying to execute him and others like him. Don't bother trying to follow the reasoning and storyline fragments - because after twenty minutes you'll most likely be lost and/or confused - and just focus what attention you have on Renner's ability to draw whatever emotion he can from limited material: he did wonders as Daredevil in The Avengers, so his ability at playing a competent action hero is not in question. The few (and far-between) action sequences provide a bit of a punch, but the rest needs a serious energy boost - David Strathairn and Joan Allen appear near the end (in glorified cameos), but if you asked me at gun-point to explain what they're talking about I'd have to settle for the bullet.
