some running commentaries during the Bourne Legacy:

or, POSITIVE POST ABOUT BOURNE LEGACY!

or, more accurately, a little meta and a lot of fangirling:

• the movie starts with wet, shirtless Jeremy Renner. awesome, but the beard is admittedly distracting.
• “maybe you are in the wrong meeting”—yup, it’s official. Edward Norton should narrate my life. his voice is just so.
• some small talks in the lab, a.k.a the scene where there is unnecessary circling shot.*
• Edward Norton is being snarky. I’m already in love with Byer.
• seriously, bb Renner, lose the beard.
• ASIAN FEMALE AGENT. I’m really happy to know her exist, she seems so badass that if she suddenly looks at the screen and says, “actually this movie is about me”, I wouldn’t have minded. much. (I still want my Renner fix, okay)
• Norton in suits <3
• ISI is mentioned and my history senses are tingling.
• love the sequences here. Norton’s line (“we’re both patriots. I bleed on this as much as you do.”) and delivery are flawless, followed neatly by the deaths of the agents, emphasizing the magnitude of the situation.
• …until they put another Alaska/Beard Renner scene. I know that these scenes have their purposes, but I can’t help feeling something is really off with the execution. for some reason, the scenes just deflate tension.
• OH HI CLINT. HI CLINT. HI.
• “It’s Aaron Cross.” “Shit.” MY BYER/AARON SENSES ARE TINGLING. I AM SO SHIPPING THEM, GUYS.
• I, ON THE OTHER HAND, AM NOT SHIPPING AARON/GORY SHOTS AND AARON/CUTTING HIMSELF AT ALL.
• the shooting in the lab. fantastic performance by Rachel Weisz and look at all the ladies in the lab <3. ‘scientists are males’ stereotype is abandoned in this movie, gladly. (granted, they would all die, but I’m not going to be that person who’s picking at every single bad things about this movie. this is POSITIVE BOURNE LEGACY POST, OKAY)
• unnecessary Nickleback-like song.**
• “sin eaters. it means we take the moral excrement out of the equation.” also known as Another Aaron/Byer Moment and This Movie Can Consist of Edward Norton Monologuing and I Would Still Be Satisfied.
• “Camera? is that why you keep such a beautiful appearance?” awwww bb Aaron trying to flirt.
• I’m question Martha’s decisions in life right now because I would’ve kissed Aaron then and there immediately.
• Martha’s apartment fight, a.k.a everyone being awesome. love love LOVE Donna Murphy’s character (the woman agent), she’s surprisingly more competent than any other agents there. seriously, she’s the only one who manages to land a hit on Aaron, what up.
• “but you have a plan right? of course you do.” “call your sister. because that has gone so well.” “of course you don’t know anything! that’s why they all want to kill you.” Snarky Aaron is lovely. also doesn’t this mean the Aaron/Byer ship is a snarky ship.
• wonderful banter and performance by Renner and Weisz. Martha is very believable as a scientist dragged into the spy world—not overly emotional, not illogically unperturbed either (the Transformer 3 girl, anyone?). also, she stands her ground against Aaron. awesome.
• obligatory science babble time that probably isn’t even accurate! 
• beautiful, beautiful acting by renner during the June Monroe scene. “do you know her?” “not anymore.” he managed to pack so many emotions in those two sentences and a tilt of the head. UGH, RENNER, YOU DESERVE YOUR OSCAR NOMS, OKAY.
• SHIRTLESS RENNER. ALSO ARM PORN.
• the scene where Aaron just totally owns the three policemen who went down to investigate is, imo, what makes the movie worth the money (other than the awesome casts). in both viewings of this movie, the audience in my cinema gasped. YES, AARON IS THAT BADASS, PEOPLE.
• sick, sweaty, shirtless Renner is probably the sexiest thing in the history of anything, ever.
• Martha, please consider you choices in life right now. consider all the decisions you’ve made in your life. THERE’S A SHIRTLESS, SWEATY AND WILLING AARON CROSS IN FRONT OF YOU. HOW CAN YOU NOT KISS THAT MOTHERFCKER.
• Aaron wears his T-Shirt. I actually let out an audible, pained gasp.
• “It’s up and running. consider yourself informed.” oh, Byer, you snarky you.
• LARX-3 is awesome. treadstone without the inconsistencies, outcome without the emotional noise. also, he’s Thai. we South East Asians can kick asses too!
• I’m sorry Aaron but LARX-3’s parkour skills beat yours. not by a large margin, but still.
• well LARX-3 is one stubborn BAMF. go get them!
• look at such conviction in those eyes!
• WHAT DO YOU MEAN I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO ROOT FOR LARX-3?!
• Aaron has been a BAMF throughout the movie, but do you know what’s more awesome? Martha’s the one landing the final kick.
• that… was an abrupt end.***
• this movie seriously has awful song choices. that last song, ugh. did the people in charge simply googled “legacy song lyrics” and picked the first result that came out? because I can’t find another reason it was used except the fact that it has the word ‘legacy’ in its lyrics.
• but still! shirtless Renner. nobody minds shirtless Renner.
• left the cinema sexually frustrated and lacking in ovaries. oh well.

*this is only one of the few directing problems in the movie. I read one reviewer saying “Gilroy should stay away from cameras and get back to writing”, and I honestly disagree. something’s off with the movie, but it’s not Gilroy’s direction.

**this. this is the main problem of the movie. it would build up the tension nicely and you are excited for what’s coming… and then they’d cut to another scene.

***to all the critics who complain about this… the abrupt end reminds me so much of Bourne Identity, and I don’t see you guys complaining about that last time. oh, well, these critics, nothing will please them.

(tl;dr: totally not perfect movie, but definitely worth watching. featuring everything porn by Jeremy Renner, voice porn by Edward Norton, awesome ladies by Rachel Weisz, Donna Murphy and some more, and ass-kicking South East Asian)