The departure from Paul Greengrass’ Bourne series to writer-now-director Tony Gilroy’s is marked and, at times, successful. Whereas the Bournes of Damon were shaky and shot with whirlwind hand-cam cinematography, The Bourne Legacy is slow and meticulous. Like his predecessor, Aaron Cross’s (Jeremy Renner) strikes and punches are amazingly quick, but the rest of the film subdued.
The trajectory of the film is equally changed. The first trilogy offered a man in search of an identity. The second series gives us a man aware of his identity and cognizant of his past. The main difference between the two is the second’s dependence on “chems,” or drugs to keep his mind and physical acumen sharp and hyper-elevated. Only referred to as “blues” and “greens,” the pills provide the impetus for Cross to search for, well, anyone – in this case, Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz). Weisz is characteristically intriguing and an accomplished actress, though her character seems more important to keep the story pumping than anything else.
And, this is where The Bourne Legacy hits a snag: there’s no reason for a fifth movie. Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of films that exist solely to spawn sequels, but this film does nothing to offer closure to its predecessor – not that Ultimatum needed any – and does little to pique interest in an additional film. In fact, it does little more than provide some decent action scenes and indict the CIA – and other underground information agencies — for being perpetually nefarious.
In its essence, I’m not against the criticism of government agencies and the often vilified people who champion and run them, but Col. Eric Byer (Edward Norton) and Adm. Mark Turso (Stacy Keach) are perceived as cartoonish villains. Granted, Bourne has never pretended to be anything more than it is: a solid action franchise wherein the protagonist discovers information, runs a bit, fights a bit, and finds out more information (not necessarily in that order). However, Legacy puts so much effort into vilifying government agents that I begin to wonder how stale Aaron Cross is — and maybe how Jason Bourne was.
This is not an indictment of Renner, though he lacks the subtle nuances that Matt Damon provided as Jason Bourne. (And, as I write this, I’m not sure if this is a fair criticism – or even one at all. Jason Bourne was troubled with amnesia and emotionally devastated by his girlfriend’s murder. Cross is not given any of this. All we know is that Byer offered him a position; Cross accepted, and here we are.) And, this might be one of the problems with Legacy as well: there is no development or intrigue over the character. There is no riddle, and, aside from the search for “chems,” there is no quest. And, when the quest is completed, we hardly notice or care, and there’s still another twenty five minutes left. To the film’s credit, it fills these final moments with an amazing motorcycle chase, but this too adds little to the narrative arc of the film than an exciting decline.
In the end, the end is merely the end, and it’s priming the audience for a sequel, but I’m not sure we should care to see it because Cross is searching for nothing, and the only way he can survive is by staying off the grid and floating around the Pacific with Rachel Weisz. It’s not a bad way to live, but I’m not sure I want to watch a movie about it. Moreover, I’m not sure Norton or Keach want to spend that much effort bringing Cross back to the grid. It would seem that they prefer to let him float around in oblivion — so long as he doesn’t make trouble.
