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"The Bourne Legacy"

Written and Directed by Tony Gilroy

Starring Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton

PG-13

135 Min

"The Bourne Legacy" is either a sequel to the first three Bourne movies, or it is a spin-off.  I can't quite say which because while it works well enough as a spy thriller, it has some trouble incorporating the familiar Bourne brand name.  The problem isn't in the casting, which replaces Matt Damon's Jason Bourne with a new character named Aaron Cross, played by Jeremy Renner.  Renner has been making the rounds in a great many blockbusters over the last few years, and he is a welcome presence.  The issue lies within the film's identity crisis.  The first hour or so is made up of scenes of Cross in the Alaskan wild, intercut with scenes we saw played out in "The Bourne Ultimatum."  Therein lies the rub; because even though the tone of this feature fits nicely into the established Bourne film universe, it is too tied down to the previous installments, and does nothing to move the story forward.

Obviously, if this is meant as a spin-off, we'd expect to be carried along by a new narrative that could stand independently of the previous films' events.  Instead, "The Bourne Legacy" bites off more than it can chew by attempting to branch off in a new direction, and simultaneously treads lightly with the new story in favor of leaning on the more compelling events surrounding Jason Bourne.  David Strathairn, Albert Finney and Joan Allen all show up very briefly to reprise their respective roles, which is all well and good, but they are gone so quickly that it makes us wonder why they were included at all.  We also see footage from "The Bourne Ultimatum" which conveniently leaves out any scenes of Matt Damon.  The result is a first half that almost forces the audience to distract themselves by trying to piece together events from the last movie, which takes us out of this one.

The new story involves Aaron Cross (Renner), an operative for the 'Outcome' program, which if I understand it right is a subsidiary of the 'Treadstone' program that Jason Bourne was a product of.  The difference here is, the Outcome agents are enhanced by pills that are taken at regular intervals.  There is a green pill for physical enhancements and a blue pill for cognitive improvement.  These 'chems,' as the screenplay calls them, are manufactured at a Government lab where Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) works.  For nearly the first hour, Aaron Cross is trekking through the Alaskan wilderness, apparently as punishment for insubordination or something.  He is running low on chems and seems to need a new dose really bad.  Meanwhile, as a result of Jason Bourne exposing Treadstone with the help of Pam Landy (Joan Allen) in the last film, Ezra Kramer (Scott Glenn) fears that similar unsanctioned Government Operations may be at risk.  Retired Colonel Eric Byer (an always welcome Edward Norton) is informed of the situation and immediately decides to eliminate all the agents for Outcome.  This is done by replacing the agents' chems with a single yellow pill that brings death in the form of a left nostril nosebleed.  Since Aaron Cross is unreachable in Alaska with another agent (Oscar Isaac), Byer and his goons send a drone to explode things. With the help of some wolves (don't ask), Aaron is able to make it appear as though the drone was successful.

I've often wondered in these features why the best strategy for hiding the shady dealings of an unsanctioned Government Op is to leave a trail of mysterious deaths.  Since the brainwashing recruitment strategy has already been established, wouldn't it be more conducive to make the agents promise to never tell in case things go south?  But nevermind.  Aaron is able to make his way to Marta's home just in time to save her from some unsavory "mental health professionals" who intend to permanently remedy her trauma from a recent workplace tragedy.  Together, Aaron and Marta go on the run from everyone who wants them dead and this is where the film starts to lose its trajectory.  You see, Jason Bourne had amnesia when we met him in "The Bourne Identity" and part of the fun of following his journey was that he needed to find out who he was.  While Aaron Cross certainly has something to run from, he lacks a clear goal or motivation outside of drug addiction.  His whole reason for sweeping Marta along is so that he can get more pills; until Marta informs him that there is an injection form of each chem that can "viral off" the enhancements, making them permanent.  Even better.

Once they reach the lab in Manila and get the vaccines, then what?  "The Bourne Legacy" has a hard time answering that.  It spends the last act mixed up in rooftop parkour, motorcycle chases and shoot outs.  There is even an assassin sent to kill Marta and Cross who is so skilled that one of Eric Byer's colleagues has "never seen evaluations like this."  Mmmhmm.  So talented is he that after clumsily chasing them in plain sight, he is easily and brutally dispatched by none other than the timid Marta.  I give away this detail not to spoil your enjoyment, but to lower your expectations of anything as cool as what we've already seen in the first three movies.  While the action is exciting, it is brief and infrequent, and because we don't really understand what the main protagonist is trying to accomplish, it gives no sense that anything is at stake. Then, to top it all off, the movie just ends before setting up any kind of connection to let us know precisely what the "legacy" referenced in the title is.  What is clear is that sequels are intended; perhaps with Matt Damon and Jeremy Renner teaming up to take down the whole conspiracy.

Tony Gilroy, who has provided the screenplay for all the "Bourne" feature films, also directs this one.  At that, he is accomplished.  His "Michael Clayton" was one of the best pictures of 2007, and his smart writing takes center stage here in a very talky movie.  That would be great if there was a sense of momentum to what's being said.  Instead, we're given a competent action film, with little in the way of action, that relies too heavily on our enjoyment of the original three "Bourne" adventures.  No surprises if some viewers feel swindled when they walk out of the theatre.  I might give it another watch just to see if my perception is different the second time around.  Maybe I'll take one of those blue pills before going.