There is a funny little scene at the beginning
of The Bourne Legacy. A top secret
CIA team headed by ominous shadow man Eric Byer (Edward Norton) is gathered
around a table looking over some agent profiles, when one member suddenly comes
across Jason Bourne’s file, much to Byer’s annoyance. “You must be in the wrong
meeting” deadpans Byer, before moving onto a different set of case studies.
That’s one giant hint Tony Gilroy is dropping
in the audience’ lap. It’s almost as if the Bourne
trilogy’s screenwriter is telling us to move on from what’s come before and
embrace this new reality that runs parallel to the events of Paul Greengrass’ Ultimatum, making this effectively a “sidequel”,
rather than a reboot or a spin-off. Out goes Matt Damon’s amnesiac rogue agent
and in comes Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), a diminutive superspy powered by a
set of blue and green pills.
Aside from the switch in leading men, the tone
and style remain the same. Globetrotting still plays a big part (although this
time the action steers well clear of our familiar European shores), improbable
chases take place in believable scenarios and the plot is peppered with
shaky-cam close-ups of men in suits talking tactics in rooms full of monitors. Even
Moby’s Extreme Ways clocks in at the
end credits mark.
And yet somehow, The Bourne Legacy doesn’t really live up to its pedigree. It’s not
so much a disappointing film, but a curiously ineffective one.
Part of the reason could be down to new spy on
the block, Aaron Cross. While Jeremy Renner may arguably be a more gifted actor
than Matt Damon, he is definitely a less charismatic one. It sure doesn’t help
that Cross is virtually the same character Renner’s already played in Mission Impossible 4 and The Avengers – both released in the past
12 months – not to mention that his fixation with getting his hands on a bunch
of pills will alienate anyone who isn’t a) a junkie or b) a protein-popping fitness
freak.
The other con is Gilroy’s direction. Michael Clayton may have been a hit with
the critics, but here the erstwhile screenwriter seems to have adopted all of
Greengrass’ tips and tricks to cover up his insecurity as an action filmmaker.
The end result lacks of originality. And while we’re at it, he could have given
Norton something more to do, other than stand around in what is a forgettable
bureaucratic role.
Having said that, Legacy does boast a couple of action sequences that are on par with
the very best the original trilogy had to offer – one particular scene, in
which Aaron Cross runs to the rescue of Rachel Weisz’s perennially distressed
scientist in an isolated mansion, is loaded with the same suspense and kinetic
energy so often conjured in the previous films.
But as of now however, this franchise is hardly
Bourne again.
2/5
