The Bourne Legacy (***)
Directed
by: Tony Gilroy
Starring:
Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Joan Allen, Albert Finney
Seen:
September 24th 2012
***
Out of ****
The
fourth Bourne movie only mentions Bourne a few times and refers to him in the
tagline to the movie: “There was never just one”. Bourne has become a
relatively established, if still young at only 4 movies, parallel to the Bond
franchise. On average, and in my mind, the Bourne franchise beats Bond, but
some Bond movies, like Casino Royale and Skyfall, far outweigh the Bourne
movies’ gravitas. All the Bourne movies are great flash-in-the-pan action
movies with fantastic action and car chases and fight choreography. The Bourne
Legacy retains the feel of the Matt Damon Bourne movies, with director Tony
Gilroy having been on the writing staff for the first three movies.
As
Jason Bourne was busy exposing/destroying Treadstone and Blackbriar in the
first three movies, the black-ops higher-ups were already creating Operation
Outcome and Operation LARX. Aaron Cross (Renner), the new Bourne, is an Outcome
operative and as Treadstone and Blackbriar are exposed, their overseer Eric
Byer (Norton) fears it may lead to Outcome also coming under public scrutiny. To
protect LARX, he decides to sacrifice Outcome and eliminate the entire program
and anyone who formed part of it. Cross, meanwhile, is on an Outcome training
exercise in Alaska, where he barely escapes Byer’s drone attack, which kills
outcome operative Number Three. Where Treadstone and Blackbriar was only mental
reconditioning/reprogramming and intense training, Outcome included medical
enhancements and Cross must find a way to replenish his medical stock while
staying ahead of the assassins on his trail. Cross gets wind of the almost
complete wipe-out of the research staff involved in Outcome, and to save
himself, he saves Dr Marta Shearing (Weisz) from a CIA team sent with other
motives before they go on the run, trying whatever they can to ensure Cross’ survival.
The
Bourne Legacy proudly plays off of the strength of the original Bourne trilogy.
Those who enjoyed the action, the tension, and the break-neck pace of the first
three movies will definitely enjoy this one as well. Jeremy Renner is an able
replacement for Matt Damon, and Rachel Weisz is just as good in her role, while
Edward Norton blazes across the screen as the corrupt and soulless Byer. The
movie keeps the adrenaline pumping all the way through, and the inventiveness
of the choreography of Bourne continues in this movie, even though it does feel
slightly subdued. I do wonder, after having read the first two books by Robert
Ludlum, how movies actually based on the books would stack up against what we
currently have – the movies are really good, but differ from the books in almost
all major ways possible.
The
Bourne Legacy is a worthy follow up to the Matt Damon Bourne movies, but it doesn’t
fully reach their brilliance. It is however still an accomplished action
thriller with some interesting plot ideas and a taut story sure to thrill
almost any viewer.
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