What’s more important to a movie studio executive than creating a movie franchise? Keeping a successful franchise going.

That’s been the reality of Hollywood for decades, and we’ve seen the results with the utter lack of creativity with respect to new titles.

So, when Matt Damon didn’t want to continue the Bourne franchise after three monster hits, the producers had to improvise.

Enter Jeremy Renner and a new character, Aaron Cross. Renner was an ascending star at the time, so casting him in the lead role made sense. But while the film did fairly well at the box office, it suffered a significant drop off from the previous installment.

The movie isn’t bad, and it delivers the frenetic actions sequences we’ve come to expect from the Bourne films. The movie takes place concurrently with the events of “The Bourne Ultimatum” and follows Cross, a member of Operation Outcome, an offshoot of the CIA’s black ops program Treadstone which created Jason Bourne. The writers add a new wrinkle to the story, as Outcome agents are genetically enhanced through a series of pills known as “chems” that improve their physical and mental abilities.

Cross is on a training exercise in Alaska when he discovers that the Outcome program is being terminated due to the exposure of Treadstone and Blackbriar (another similar program) by Jason Bourne. He escapes of course, and then we have the standard Bourne formula of the rogue agent being hunted down by the CIA, with Edward Norton’s character leading the charge. Cross is accompanied by Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz), a biochemist who worked on the Outcome program and is also targeted for elimination.

Renner, Weisz and the rest of the cast all deliver fine performances, and the film is a solid popcorn movie. Tony Gilroy replaces Paul Greengrass as director and uses fewer shaky-cam effects, but is still true to the overall style of the franchise. Scott Glenn returns as CIA Director Ezra Kramer, with Stacy Keach, Donna Murphy, Michael Chernus and Corey Stoll joining the cast.

But in trying to stretch the franchise, the writers had to stretch the story to even more ridiculous lengths. They somehow make the CIA even more cartoonishly evil, and the film also seems to screw up the clever ending of “The Bourne Ultimatum.” Not having the Pamela Landy character (Joan Allen) in this installment looks like a missed opportunity.

Ultimately, “The Bourne Legacy” failed to restart the franchise, and Renner’s Aaron Cross character wasn’t brought back for another film. It’s not a bad rewatch if you’re looking for an action movie fix, but it’s not one you need to seek out.

The Bourne Legacy

After the first three “Bourne” movies grossed a combined $945 million worldwide, Universal Studios wasn’t going to let something as “petty” as the series’ star, Matt Damon, walking away stop the cash from flowing in. Even though “The Bourne Legacy” will likely break an impressive pattern—that each of the trilogy’s installments was more successful than the last in terms of both opening and cumulative grosses (“The Bourne Identity” debuted to $27.1 million and had a domestic total gross of nearly $122 million, “Supremacy” made $52.5 million in its opening weekend, winding up with $176 million, while “Ultimatum” opened to $69.3 million and had $227 million to its name when things were all said and done)—the studio can still expect to make a pretty penny. Plus, given that “The Dark Knight Rises” was last week’s top earner with just shy of $36 million in its third week, Universal can expect to own the nation’s number one movie, as “Legacy” will have no problem clearing $30 million over its first three days at the box office.

Anyway, let’s talk about the film itself, shall we? With Damon gone, writer/director Tony Gilroy, who also wrote the screenplays for the first three “Bourne” movies, had to come up with some way to introduce a new main character. As we find out from the trailer, “There was never just one… Jason Bourne was the tip of the iceberg.” Enter Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker,” “The Avengers“) as Aaron Cross, who’s essentially another Jason Bourne.

Overlapping with the ending of the last film, the story has broken that the CIA has been conducting top-secret experiments involving genetically enhanced spies. As a result, they’re putting an end to all such programs, which means killing all of the various programs’ agents. With the exception of the new leading man, “Legacy” has everything we’ve come to expect from the series: a super spy on the run from the government with a damsel in distress in tow. Only this time, Renner’s playing the hero, the damsel has a doctorate, and newcomer Edward Norton steps in as Colonel Eric Byer, who’s in charge of hunting Renner’s character down. It seems he’s escaped the government’s attempt on his life and needs to find Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) so he can get a hold of the medications that help him function at superhuman levels.

The film has split critics right down the middle, it currently sits at a 50 percent on the Tomatometer. It’s sure to be entertaining, but like so many of the reboot/sequel/spin-offs coming along these days, it leaves something to be desired because you can’t escape the feeling that you’ve seen this film before. I think Bullz-Eye’s David Medsker put it best:

“The Bourne Legacy” shares a sentiment with a couple of other movies released this year (“American Reunion,” “Men in Black 3” [and I’ll add “The Amazing Spider-Man” to the list]) in that it was not at all necessary, yet still enjoyable. That might be damning the movie with faint praise, but considering the lengths that Universal is going to in order to keep the Bourne cash cow mooing – really, everything about the movie’s existence is pretty damn cynical – they would be wise to take any praise people are willing to give them. They get a pass this time, but they’re going to need to raise the stakes for the next one.

The Campaign

From director Jay Roach (best known for directing the “Austin Powers” films as well as “Meet the Parents” and “Meet the Fockers”) comes “The Campaign,” a satirical political comedy boasting big name stars like Will Ferrell, Zach Galfianakis, Jason Sudeikis, John Lithgow, and Dan Akroyd. With actors like that and a premise as easily mockable as American politics, this one’s sure to be a slam dunk, right?

Not this time. Although it’s got a 65 percent rating on the Tomatometer, the general consensus seems to be that the film is one big missed opportunity. In an election year, the filmmakers could’ve gotten a bit edgier, really putting our political system on trial while still generating big laughs from Ferrell and Galifianakis. In fact, one might wonder why this wasn’t the case, given that Roach has pushed some boundaries in his HBO election dramas “The Recount” and “Game Change.” To quote Bullz-Eye’s Jason Zingale:

Though the film is actually much better than expected, it never fully takes advantage of its satirical premise, especially with the 2012 elections only months away. There are a number of good laughs sprinkled throughout, but it’s not nearly enough to warrant sitting through all the dry spells. And try as director Jay Roach might to make his characters more absurd than our real-life politicians, that’s a lot easier said than done.

Oh yes, you’re probably wondering about the plot. Here it is: Incumbent North Carolina Congressman Cam Brady (Ferrell) is essentially running on auto-pilot until a sex scandal puts his campaign under a microscope. As a result, two corrupt businessmen played by Lithgow and Akroyd, the Motch brothers (whose similarities with the real-life Koch brothers are no coincidence) decide to back country bumpkin Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) who will turn a blind eye to their plan to use import Chinese factory workers on the cheap.

Hope Springs

Last but not least this week is “Hope Springs,” a dramedy that is sure to skew older than the previous two films. It stars Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as a couple who despite being loving and devoted have watched as their relationship gets somewhat stale over the decades. Streep’s character, Kay, hears of Dr. Feld (Steve Carell), a widely renowned relationship specialist and tries to persuade her husband, Arnold, to embark on a trip to the small town of Hope Springs to meet him.

The film has been certified fresh with a 77 percent rating on the Tomatometer. The site had this to say about the film: “Led by a pair of mesmerizing performances from Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones, Hope Springs offers filmgoers some grown-up laughs — and a thoughtful look at mature relationships.” Bullz-Eye’s David Medsker offers a different perspective: “How much you enjoy ‘Hope Springs’ will depend largely on how much you enjoy watching older people have sex.” It’s pretty easy to figure out whether you’re part of “Hope Springs” target audience, and as a result, whether or not you’ll enjoy the film.

* Captain America has got his girlfriend, and I’ve never heard of her! However, those of you who keep up with your TV may know Hayley Atwell, who’ll be playing Peggy Carter, Cap’s WWII era love interest. Among other shows, she was featured on the not-so well received AMC redo of “The Prisoner.”

* The folks over at Dreamworks have been busy beavers. First, they began the roll out of their “Kung Fu Panda” “virtual theme park” — basically a collection of Panda-based games for kids. Also, their gearing up for the May release “Shrek Forever After.” Today, CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg spoke at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) confab about, naturally, 3-D conversions on the first three “Shrek” productions and how they won’t suck like certain live-action 3-D conversions.

Still, there was a fly in the family-friendly ointment, and that was a photo spread that’s coming out in the glossy Vman Magazine that apparently caused some unhappiness at Dreamworks Animation. I could explain why, and you may definitely read the Paul Bond’s THR article about it. On the other hand, I don’t have to tell you how many words a picture is worth.

* If one is to believe the reviews so far at Rotten Tomatoes, “I Love You, Phillip Morris” is probably fairly good. It’s a factually inspired black comedy from John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, the writers of “Bad Santa” who also directed the film. Starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor as prison lovers desperate to be reunited, it’s definitely somewhat bold. It’s also caught up in a rather complex business hell, which is why we might not get the chance to see it for awhile, even though it was sold post-Sundance back in early ’09.

* Zac Efron’s first serious attempt at filmic adulthood appears to be as the lead in a remake of a Swedish thriller where he’ll be playing a  drug runner.

* I’ve got to admire director Darren Aronofsky’s sense of eclecticism. I suppose they would both be considered portraits of remarkable people, but it’s still a very long run from “The Wrestler” to a biopic about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The director’s wife, Rachel Weisz, will star as the glamorous and tragic first lady.

* I’m sure this won’t stop some people, but all signs point to the probability that it’s a little bit early to be deciding that writer-star Seth Rogen and director Michel Gondry’s “The Green Hornet” will suck. It is, however, not too early to be fairly sure it won’t be your usual masked-hero flick. As for the next “Twilight” film, I think most people have already made up their minds one way or the other on that. Anne Thompson has the scoop on both.

* The late, great Stanley Kubrick was, of course, noted for taking years to complete a film, but this is ridiculous.

* I don’t know about you, but I’d stay at the proposed Hollywood sign hotel in a heartbeat. It’s an idea that sounds terrible but actually looks pretty nifty when you read the piece I linked to. And it’s not like the present sign is exactly the Taj Mahal.