REVIEW OF THE BOURNE LEGACY

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About This Movie:

Following in the wake of Jason Bourne's burning of the Blackbriar program in The Bourne Ultimatum, Tony Gilroy's new entry in the franchise pulls back the curtain on the other CIA intelligence programs that have been operating in the shadows and now fear exposure; specifically, Operation Outcome, a highly advanced iteration of the original Treadstone program.

After Colonel Eric Byer (Edward Norton)—operator of Outcome and mastermind behind all of the assassin programs, including Treadstone—discovers that Bourne has exposed Blackbriar, he is forced to liquidate his own program, eliminating all knowledgeable personnel. But when an asset from the program escapes, the CIA will find they have a whole new liability on their hands: agent Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner). With Byer and the full power of the CIA hot on his heels, Cross will have to use every skill in his arsenal to avoid capture and stay alive.

What Is Good About The Movie:

When agent Aaron Cross plunges into icy waters in the opening moments of the brisk and satisfying spy thriller The Bourne Legacy, the scene serves two purposes: to commemorate the superb and well-loved trilogy that came before, in which Matt Damon, as the man called Jason Bourne, made his first appearance in The Bourne Identity, fished out of the Mediterranean Sea with bullets in his back; and to baptize Jeremy Renner as the action-hero heir worthy of leading the franchise forward.

The symbolism works elegantly. Renner's Cross is a conflicted hero built to take advantage of the Hurt Locker star's best qualities as an actor — his default intensity, the way he conveys that complicated mental calculations are taking place under cover of watchful stillness, even underwater. Director and co-writer Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) has custom-tailored The Bourne Legacy for the present by opening up the narrative. Unnerving scenes of backroom operations among shadowy governmental and private-enterprise types reveal the machinations of a much bigger, more nefarious tangle of players than previously imagined. There are mystery men running the country — and, by remote control, the world. This movie recommends worrying.

What Is Bad About The Movie:

When I first heard there was another Bourne installment, this time without Matt Damon, I figured someone either wrote a good script to carry on a new story line, or the studio wanted to churn out a guaranteed cash cow under the title of a proved and successful action series. Writer/director Tony Gilroy wrote the scripts for the first three Bourne films, but this is his first time behind the camera in the series. After enduring a painfully slow beginning, The Bourne Legacy reveals it is set at the same point in time as The Bourne Ultimatum.

Unfortunately, The Bourne Legacy noticeably lacks the quality script and thrilling action sequences of that first film. The chase scenes in the new film are edited so atrociously, especially during motorcycle elements, that they are almost impossible to logically follow. You know they are weaving in and out of traffic, there are near misses, and flying bullets; but there are only quick glimpses of that on the screen in the midst of the unsteady camera work and split-second jump cuts.

Renner and Weisz do their best to remake a film which was already pretty great. Yes, they have new names and faces, but they are running from the same agency, dodging the same bullets, but this time they have a higher chromosomal level on their side. The Bourne Legacy has potential, but I can’t help but wonder if it will be known as that film that derailed the very respectable Bourne franchise. 

Overall Grade:

B-