The Bourne Legacy (FILM REVIEW)
The Bourne Legacy
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Spy Franchise Reboot Features Pill-Popping Potboiler
The
prior three installments in the Bourne franchise, The Bourne Identity, The
Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, were all adapted from best-sellers
by Robert Ludlum and starred Matt Damon as espionage agent extraordinaire Jason
Bourne. The Bourne Legacy represents a major departure in that it’s based on a
book by Eric Van Lustbader and only makes slight references to the title
character.
In
place of Bourne, this reboot revolves around Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), a
pill-popping protagonist being turned into a killing machine by way of an experimental
CIA program. At the point of departure, we find the unassuming spy on
assignment in the Alaskan wilderness where he is very dependent on government
issued medication coming in blue and green colors designed to improve his
mental and physical abilities, respectively.
However,
when he watches a guided missile fired by an American drone blow up the cabin
where he’s been training, the sage spy instantly realizes that the Agency inexplicably
now wants him dead, and he’s almost out of the drugs he’s become utterly
dependent upon. This sets in motion the sort of frenetic, high body-count race
against time we’ve come to expect of every Bourne episode.
The
adrenaline-fueled adventure first brings our peripatetic hero in from the cold for
a fix as well as for some answers. But he’s only frustrated back at
headquarters where he determines that a yellow pill recently added to his
regimen has already killed his other colleagues in the top secret Blackbriar
Program.
After
convincing the gorgeous medical researcher (Rachel Weisz) monitoring his vital
signs that she’s on the hit list, too, the pair escape to the Philippines by
way of Canada for a spectacular motorcycle chase scene replete with a hired hit
man (Louis Ozawa Changchien), frightened pedestrians and a sacrificial fruit
stand.
Don’t be surprised to find the episode
end in a way which sets the table for Bourne 5 as much as it closes the curtain
on this action-packed roller coaster ride. A primer on how to make a successful
sequel sans a hit franchise’s title character, star and source material from
the series’ creator.
Very Good
(3 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence and intense action sequences.
Running time: 135 minutes
Distributor: Universal
Pictures
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