The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Director: Tony Gilroy                                     Writers: Tony & Dan Gilroy
Film Score: James Newton Howard                Cinematography: Robert Elswit
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton and Stacy Keach

First off, The Bourne Legacy is not a great film, but it is a good, solid entry in a franchise that is attempting to reinvent itself after the departure of Matt Damon, and in that sense it is a success. Like all genre pictures there are conventions we come to expect, and the film delivers in that regard as well. The one flaw with the new series is that without the identity issue, there is little else for the hero to do but elude capture. Though in the end, with far less baggage than Damon brings to the screen, Jeremy Renner may end up being a superior “Borne.”

Based on the novel by Eric Van Lustbader, who continued the series after the death of Robert Ludlum, the conceit of the film is that a parallel program was being developed simultaneously with Blackbriar and Treadstone. This is ingeniously done by inserting scenes from The Bourne Ultimatum that include David Straithairn, Scott Glenn and Joan Allen, and shooting a new scene with Corey Johnson to bridge them together. The new program, Outcome, is headed by Edward Norton and overseen by Stacy Keach and involves genetic engineering using viruses to increase not only physical strength and stamina, but intelligence in human beings. Once, however, Blackbriar and Treadstone have been exposed by Jason Bourne, Norton decides to pull the plug on the operation, keeping the science and data intact but eliminating the test subjects.

While in Alaska on a training mission, operative Jeremy Renner accidentally manages to elude destruction from a drone plane and make it back to the states in search of the pills that he believes are enhancing his strength and intelligence. To do this he seeks out one of the scientists working on the project who has also managed, by sheer luck, to avoid a similar purge in the laboratory where she was working. With his obligatory female companion in tow, the two team up together to elude the secret government forces who are out to kill them and simultaneously search out the manufacturing facility for the drugs that Renner needs.

There are plenty of great actions scenes in the Bourne mold, including attempted assassinations, bombs, escape from high-security facilities and the like. As stated earlier, however, the reason for what’s happening to Renner becomes clear early on and without the added layer of identity confusion to thicken the plot, it’s a relatively thin story. So much so that, by the end, it doesn’t really seem over. That is to say, the film just ends. It’s an obvious set up for a sequel but it doesn’t feel that way. It’s more like there is nothing else to really add to what’s already been done and so, like a television drama, it simply leaves off until the next episode begins. Overall, however, The Bourne Legacy is a satisfying addition to the franchise, and one hopes that future installments will be able to find a way to develop a bit more intrigue.