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The Bourne Legacy2012 | 135 min | PG-13 | 2.39:1
Although it seemed as though we saw the last of Jason Bourne five years ago in “The Bourne Ultimatum,” franchise-best box office and stellar reviews proved there was still plenty of life in the ongoing story of a C.I.A. assassin on the run from cops, superiors, and himself. The appearance of “The Bourne Legacy” isn’t a surprise, yet the fact that it doesn’t star Matt Damon is, finding the producers scrambling to redirect the series with the same old story under the leadership of a new star. Surprisingly talky and unnecessarily familiar to those who’ve meticulously followed the previous three pictures, “The Bourne Legacy” remains entertaining and sporadically exciting, while introducing a capable focal point in Jeremy Renner, who adapts to the routine quite nicely. 
With Operation Blackbriar going down in flames in a decidedly public manner, military advisor Eric Byer (Edward Norton) convinces his superiors to shoot down assorted clandestine programs, including supersoldier research known as Operation Outcome, specializing in unique viral compositions created in a lab where Dr. Marta Shearling (Rachel Weisz) is employed. Attempting to kill off all the assassins in hiding, Byer misses a chance to put down Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), a gifted lethal weapon on the hunt for special pills able to keep his volatile system balanced. When Marta is targeted for murder, Aaron manages to reach the nervous woman first, trusting she’s the key to his pharmaceutical relief. With his pursuit intensifying, Byer won’t stop until both Marta and Aaron are dead, forcing the trainee to utilize his defense instruction to secure safe passage to the Philippines, hoping the good doctor will relive him of his cravings after infiltrating a secret lab. As a co-screenwriter on 2002’s “The Bourne Identity,” 2004’s “The Bourne Supremacy,” and 2007’s “The Bourne Ultimatum,” it’s about time Tony Gilroy was offered his own sequel to direct. However, “The Bourne Legacy” is no simple task, requiring the creation of a new shattered assassin, with Jason Bourne now just a terrified whisper between those who know what he’s capable of. “Legacy” essentially remakes the original effort, finding a skittish protagonist in Aaron, who’s highly trained and genetically modified, yet doesn’t have a clue what’s going on, working his training and blood testing schedule in Alaska at the opening of the picture, trusting in his pills and freshly formed instincts for survival, soon making his way to another asset (Oscar Isaac) for answers. Although it lacks the amnesia angle, “Bourne Legacy” retains the puzzle format, observing Aaron piece together his past and compute his place in the Operation Outcome scheme. 
While the “Bourne” series is known for its twisty tales of government betrayals and espionage, the latest installment has a lot of exposition to weed through as Gilroy labors to launch a new film franchise with Renner. Large portions of the picture are devoted to panicked conversations in secret, poorly lit C.I.A. rooms decorated with screens and expendable experts. “Legacy” is unexpectedly chatty, with enormous portions of the movie holding to coded explanations, pouring the foundation for Aaron’s rampage while tying events to the previous trilogy without the participation of Matt Damon. Gilroy can be repetitive this way, more invested in his actors barking orders or coming to realizations than working out their dilemmas in a more physical manner. While Aaron gets to show off his fight skills in a few showdown sequences, the majority of “Legacy” is devoted to verbal confrontations, which grow repetitive as the story unfolds. As the jonesing man-without-a-plan, Jeremy Renner makes for a fine big screen bruiser, handling the violence with skillfully choreographed flexibility, while tending to Aaron’s disillusionment as the soldier becomes aware of his dispensable nature. He’s committed to the part, working to make Aaron’s arc of enlightenment his own. It’s Rachel Weisz who’s the disappointment, supplying an overly screechy take on her damsel in distress part, much too aware of her shaky accent to make Gilroy’s dialogue sound natural. It’s a needlessly submissive role she doesn’t wear well, failing to keep Marta a confident co-pilot on this adventure. 
The third act ratchets up the action to send “Legacy” out with a bang. Sadly, this involves Aaron tearing around on a motorcycle, evading cops and additional supersoldiers -- a fine mess for Bourne Jr. if “Ultimatum” didn’t already cover same frantic two-wheeled action, though both films share a similar disregard for cinematographic clarity. The blistering release of mayhem keeps the effort bottom-heavy, without a consistent stream of action to maintain the rush of excitement. Perhaps this is Gilroy’s intent, as “The Bourne Legacy” feels like an introductory chapter to a story that has yet to begin, positioning the characters for troublemaking to come (the movie stops instead of ends). “Bourne” fans should be pleased with the promise of future fist-first investigations with a capable new hero, though I hope Gilroy grows more comfortable with his hellraising. While Jason Bourne’s crisis of identity was intriguing, it was the man’s ability to pound his way out of certain doom that kept people coming back for more. Aaron Cross deserves the same consideration. Starring: Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton, Rachel Weisz, Joan Allen, Oscar Isaac, Albert Finney Director: Tony Gilroy » See full cast & crew |
 
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