It seems less like a trend now that
every year we see more and more movies that fit in the category of remake, reboot,
re-imagining, and flat out rip-offs. It’s
comforting to know that some filmmakers are really making an effort to at least
adjust this way of making movies. Paul
Greengrass, director of the last two Bourne films and star Matt Damon decided
not to go for a fourth round in the further adventures of Jason Bourne. For this reason it fell to writer/co-writer
of all three Bourne films Tony Gilroy to take up the challenge to make an interesting
story set in the same universe. Even
more, setting the events in the same time frame as the last two Bourne
films. In short, he succeeded.
“The Bourne
Legacy” starts off with secret agent in training Aaron Cross, played by Jeremy
Renner (The Avengers) in Alaska surviving in the wild, battling wolves and
taking mysterious little blue and green pills.
Meanwhile in the states the previous events involving Jason Bourne, and
secret projects Treadstone and Blackbriar are playing out in the media as well
as deep inside the government. The players
doing damage control this time around are led by Stacy Keach and Edward Norton,
who both do a lot with little screen time almost always with their expressions. They are in charge of trying to sweep the
Bourne mess under the rug, the consequences of this involve shutting down
similar programs. As they start to eliminate
spies in the field, as it does in these types of films, there is one agent that
is not that easy to kill. Jeremy Renner
as Cross is very intense with a good soldier syndrome much like his character
in “The Hurt Locker” only without the deathwish. Rachel Weisz (The Mummy) is pretty good as
the doctor who can help Cross get the answers he needs to survive. She has several really good scenes where she becomes
slightly unhinged as a woman involved in something bigger than her. The film does takes a while to get going, which is its only drawback, but when
Weisz and Renner get together, every scene is really solid, and the final minutes belong in the pantheon of chase scenes.
The one
thing I noticed reading other reviews is the notion that this is not as good as
the previous Bourne films. That Renner
lacks the charisma Damon brought to the role.
Both of these evaluations are true, but I didn’t go into this movie
expecting to see Renner do his best Matt Damon impersonation. That really would have been re-hashing
horrible. Director Tony Gilroy is not
trying to make “Batman Begins” or “Casino Royale” those were dying franchises
that needed new life. The Bourne
universe is big enough for both of these characters. Renner has a sense of confidence and energy
that is ever present on the screen. He is a perfect fit for this series and I
would love to see him and Damon in a future film together, because they are so
different. Maybe it was a mistake to
only have 50% of the title be accurate, there is a ‘Legacy’ just no ‘Bourne’. But that should not distract you from the
great film that was put together here.
Most action movies are mindless, thoughtless underdone plots with set
piece after set piece of seen it all before action. Here we get a deeper action film, with characters
you enjoy watching go through these intense moments, and we should be glad that
some movies strive for more than just letting you get over-charged for popcorn
while things explode for no reason.
There is reason here, and “The Bourne Legacy” is an action movie not to
be missed.
--Robert L.
Castillo
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