I admit I hadn’t taken much notice to the Bourne franchise until lately and as far as I can tell “The Bourne Legacy” is not a Bourne movie.

Now, don’t take this as an initial slam. By putting the “Bourne” name on this film, there is a certain expectation of action and suspense of uncovering the CIA secrets of Tredstone. With this fourth installment, the audience knows the secrets revealed in “The Bourne Ultimatum” and now exposes alternate branch of Outcome agents featuring the new hero, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner from “Avengers”). The story focuses on Cross’s fight for survival as the agency he worked for hunts down all the agents in the field.

Sadly, there’s nothing new for the audiences that isn’t spoon fed within the first thirty minutes of “Legacy,” as it lacks all the suspense of the of the three films. With nothing new to learn about the CIA operations, this film fit with the others, becoming more of a personal story for the hero as he is only fighting for his life rather than answers. Without the foreknowledge of the other films and if it were in a world all its own, then perhaps the story seem more exciting and original, but would lose the box office gain of the ‘Bourne’ name.

If anything, the movie left me wanting more, being so well paced that after two hours of sitting in the theatre I was expecting another forty-five minutes of story. Renner and his costar, Rachel Weisz, did wonders with what they were given, but Renner is mostly overshadowed by the presence (or lack thereof) of Matt Damon, who starred in the original trilogy. Without the stigma of the original star, Renner would have been viewed less as a replacement and more as his own type of actor, creating a character with charisma and wit to character Aaron Cross instead of Damon’s angst. Renner is a natural choice for any upcoming action leads, but best not compare him to the original franchise’s star.

I recommend this movie for anyone wanting a good action film, but Bourne purist should proceed with caution. If you expect this to be just like the others, then you’ll probably be disappointed.