Review: The Bourne Legacy
The Bourne Legacy arrives during an interesting cinematic era. Where the original thrilling Bourne series left us speechless with its new take on the CIA and secret agents - making James Bond look old fashioned - Legacy pops its head up at a time where superheroic action and audience pleasing comedy are the blockbusting elite. It's like an unwelcome guest at a party who has one or two neat tricks but nothing particularly special. Perhaps, while struggling for titles for the film, the movie executives were juggling 'The Bourne Sustainability' or 'The Bourne Less Shooty More Talky.'
So where are we with the story so far? The Bourne Ultimatum's conclusion saw Jason Bourne expose the conspiracies behind the CIA's Treadstone Operation and head underground into hiding. The task falls to Avengers star Jeremy Renner to take the reigns of the franchise as we follow events occuring simultaneously to the original trilogy.
The fourth movie in the Bourne franchise is Bourne without Bourne; it's almost like having Mission Impossible without Tom Cruise. The hand just doesn't fit the glove naturally, and the movie feels more like a cheesy spin-off rather than a definite sequel to the series. The films overlap ever so slightly - the last hour of The Bourne Ultimatum slots in perfectly alongside the first hour of The Bourne Legacy. Yet Legacy is completely unnecessary, and that feeling is persistent all the way through its stupendously long 134 minute running time. The film takes a frustratingly long time to get going. 'You think Jason Bourne was the whole story? There's much more going on here,' says Byer. Okay, cool. Let's see what you've got. 'Jason Bourne was just the tip of the iceberg,' repeats Byer soon after. Yes, you've said that already. We get it. Move on. 'Aaron Cross is like Jason Bourne without the inconsistency,' Byer mumbles. Sigh.
As for the action, director Tony Gilroy refuses to do anything honestly. The Bourne Ultimatum featured an incredible stunt where Matt Damon's character jumped from a rooftop and crashed through a closed window - all in one shot. Gilroy, however, is satisfied with allowing Renner to leap from rooftop to rooftop, cutting the shot pre or mid-jump on too many occasions. Also, where the original trilogy's shaky-cam action scenes were annoying enough as we struggled to see who was hitting who, Legacy's camera work is even more unsettling. As Aaron fights wolves bare handed in the wilderness, we get the impression that the cameraman is standing on top of an enormous giant rubber ball and he's struggling to keep his balance. Shaky-cam creates excitement, sure, but Legacy ensures that excitement is overpowered by pure confusion and frustration.
Summary
The Bourne Legacy uses the original trilogy as a launch pad into new territory, however the film just doesn't jump high enough. Frustratingly, it lacks the excitement of the previous installments, and the plot revolving around taking pills in the nick of the time is rather laughable for a franchise so grounded in reality. Unless this is simply a test-run for the new series and we've yet to see what the writers really have planned for Jeremy Renner's excellent portrayal of Aaron Cross, it's sadly clear that The Bourne Legacy should have left Bourne's legacy well enough alone.
4/10
See it if you liked: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
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