The Bourne Legacy | Review
‘The Bourne Legacy’ has found a way to continue the ‘Bourne’ franchise by developing a new character within the same universe. This new character is Aaron Cross, an agent of Operation Outcome, a cousin program to Bourne’s Blackbriar and Treadstone. The actions of Jason Bourne from the previous three films, especially from ‘Bourne Ultimatum’, have resulted in the termination of Outcome and everyone who is a part of it.
Unlike Bourne, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) uses two types of medication to enhance himself as part of Operation Outcome. Green pills enhance agents’ physicality, whereas blue pills enhance their mental capacity. Cross spends the majority of the film trying to find blue pills because, according to him, all Outcome agents had lower than average IQ’s before entering the program. He needs these blue pills to be smart, to outwit his enemies, to survive.
Along his journey Cross encounters Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz), because action films need female companions or else. She’s one of the scientists who gives Outcome agents their pills as well as studies their effects. After all of her colleagues are murdered due to the termination of the program, Shearing has no choice but to go on the run as well and help Cross find these blue pills.
‘The Bourne Legacy’ is directed by Tony Gilroy (the screenwriter for all the ‘Bourne’ films) with skill. The action is intense and well-edited. Gone are the shaky camera movements of Paul Greengrass’ ‘Bourne Supremacy’ and ‘Bourne Ultimatum’. The film still has fast-editing but they’re mostly comprehensible. The only major issues with the film are its first act and climactic action sequence. The first 30 or 40 minutes featured too much exposition between government operatives. Villainous players from previous films appear, such as Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) and Ezra Kramer (Scott Glenn). The entire first act is composed of arguments and discussions between Eric Bryer (Edward Norton), one of the main directors of Outcome, and Vosen about how Bourne’s actions are causing mayhem. The climactic action sequence featured Cross and Shearing fleeing on a motorcycle from a top Manila agent named LARX-03 (Louis Ozawa Changchien). The entire chase sequence was too long and too underwhelming to be a satisfying conclusion to the film. The way the sequence ends was anticlimactic, though obviously done for some comedic effect.
The film’s standout moments include near-death encounters involving Marta Shearing. The massacre at the research facility Shearing works in is an intense sequence; at times it is even more terrifying than plenty of horror films we have nowadays. The tactics the shooter used to imprison the victims and their quick deaths are pulse-pounding and scary to witness on screen. The aftermath of the event, when Shearing has an honest talk with government-issued psychiatrists, is just as intense. Cross’ first encounter with Shearing in the film is action-heavy and features probably the most memorable kill of the film.
The filmmakers have intended for ‘The Bourne Legacy’ to be the start of a new trilogy in the ‘Bourne’ universe. The problem with this new film, though, is that it doesn’t feel complete the way ‘The Bourne Identity’ did, or like any of the previous ‘Bourne’ films. ‘Legacy’ ends way too anti-climactically and feels like it’s two-thirds of a movie. It’s never finds a resolution with Cross and Shearing’s predicament, nor with Eric Bryer’s storyline. Jeremy Renner’s character may be strong enough to lead such films, but he’s definitely different from Bourne. Cross is the good guy, but his goals are more selfish. Bourne’s films followed his path to redemption and finding out who he is/was. Norton is a great actor and it’ll be fun to see him play Bryer in any future installments, but the series needs more tightening. They shouldn’t spend so much time talking about Bourne when there’s a new hero to develop. All we needed to know was that Bourne’s actions caused a ripple effect that led to Outcome’s termination. It shouldn’t have taken 40 minutes to explain this.
There’s hope for the ‘Bourne’ series. They have a strong lead, female companion, and villain. How they can continue to use “Bourne” in the titles of future films I do not know, but Gilroy has said in an interview he hopes to see Bourne and Cross team up in a future installment. It’s unlikely, but wouldn’t that be cool?
