Based upon the Bourne series by Robert Ludlum
Story by Tony Gilroy
Screenplay Written by Tony Gilroy and Dan Gilroy
Directed by Tony Gilroy
** (two stars)
I really hate the current description of movie film series as "franchises."
While there is a rather brutal honesty within the description, it is the blatant cynicism that pains me. When it comes to movies that spiral off into a series, the completely impersonal term of "franchise" showcases the fact that the nature of artistry and entertainment is irrelevant and the only way they could ever be described is solely within lucrative terminology reducing the films themselves to be nothing more than product and the potential audience as commodities. While I have grown increasingly wearier of sequels, reboots and re-imaginings over the years, 2012 in particular has shown exactly how the right filmmakers can beautifully merge the worlds of art and commerce together, making some of the very best film going experiences of the year by giving audiences something to savor via a combination of inventive direction, strong screenwriting, high caliber acting performances and of course, excellent storytelling. A sequel does not have to exist as a soulless visual representation of a boardroom deal, as something like Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises" or Sam Mendes' "Skyfall" both can brilliantly attest. On the other hand, there are those films, regardless of how well they are made and presented, that simply do not function as anything else other than a filmed deal and a shameless attempt to keep those franchise dollars flowing. Director Tony Gilroy's "The Bourne Legacy," the fourth entry in the Jason Bourne saga, yet this time without the character of Jason Bourne at the helm, is precisely that type of shameless filmed deal. A handsome production but highly flawed movie that truly has no reason whatsoever to exist other than to grab as many of those Jason Bourne dollars as possible, even when the story itself grows increasingly preposterous and ultimately meaningless.
"The Bourne Legacy," an installment that essentially runs concurrently to Jason Bourne's own adventures, takes a dangerously sluggish 45 minutes or so to get itself rolling as we are introduced to Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), another isolated top secret member of a top secret government black ops program that specializes in genetically altered and enhanced creations of an elite team of super soldiers through green and blue pills known as "chems." As continued exposure of those top secretive programs through Jason Bourne's escapades threatens to bring the existence of additional top secret genetic enhancement programs to light, all of the program's "participants" are being systematically eliminated one by one...save for Aaron Cross, who naturally escapes.
The film finally begins to pick up some speed once we realize that the super soldiers are not the only ones in danger. A private scientific research team, including Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz), has also been targeted for assassination. After Aaron rescues Marta, the two join forces to venture to the Philippines to obtain a new supply of blue pills that will ensure Aaron's new physicality and intellect remains in its enhanced form or else the withdrawal will reduce him to a mental and physical blob of jelly.
To begin, I do have to say to you all that I have not been a fan of the Jason Bourne series thus far. Despite the magnetic presence of Matt Damon, the films have never left much of an impression upon me and without any intended humor, I just do not find them to be particularly...ahem...memorable. Beyond that, as I have often mentioned on this site, both "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004) and "The Bourne Ultimatum" (2007), for my tastes, were each severely undone by the overly hyperactive directorial style of Paul Greengrass, who utilizes the "dreaded shaky cam" to such a detrimental degree that the entire essence and story contained within the chases, pursuits, fights, shoot outs and the like became a headache inducing jumble that completely took me out of the film experience and I ultimately did not care a whit about what happened to anyone within the story. And besides, I guess I just find the entire series to be less than compelling and more than a little silly as I am to believe that the TOP agents of the TOP governmental organizations just have themselves forever hog-tied with trying to locate and capture this one man who is always 38 steps ahead of them to the point that Jason Bourne can phone them from across the street or is seemingly hiding just around the corner in the next office. It is all so tiresome and I honestly do not know how they have spun three films out of this material in the first place anyway. But they have and it has been a box office and critical success of a series at that, so I realize that maybe Jason Bourne is just not meant for me.
All of that being said, and that painful opening 45 minutes or so notwithstanding, "The Bourne Legacy" did possess an small element that at least grabbed my interest more than any of the other films in the series this far and that was Aaron Cross' feverish pursuit of those blue pills. This factor injected a race against time quality that I found to be a bit riveting once the film's pace picked up. Additionally, it also gave the film a less political and more pulpy quality that at times reminded me of the immortal Snake Plissken's predicament in John Carpenter's "Escape From New York" (1981), where Snake had a time limit to rescue the captured President Of The United States or risk the implanted chip in his brain exploding.
Aaron Cross's journey throughout "The Bourne Legacy" is decidedly not one of justice but a single minded pursuit of those blue pills making this movie almost exist as a film of addiction. I have to say that it did pose a somewhat compelling question of whether the blue pills really did alter the chemistry of these poor military guinea pigs or if these blue pills were nothing more than placebos triggering a newfound sense of medicinal dependency making Aaron crave something he actually doesn't need. Now, that was a cool subtext to have and that made be grab onto this film a hair more than the other installments but when it was all said and done, everything felt to be negligible.
First of all, there are plot holes galore throughout the film as well as and nonsensical flashback sequences that amount to absolutely nothing whatsoever. Even more ridiculous is the obviously franchise driven addition of yet ANOTHER secretive black ops government genetically enhanced set of super soldiers, which places this particular unstoppable force against Aaron Cross. While the action sequences do grow more impressive as the film races onwards, it was also more than laughable as I felt that I was beginning to watch something akin to "The Terminator" (1984), thus making everything feel sillier than I believe Gilroy had any intention for it to be.
And frankly, Jeremy Renner deserves better. As he displayed in Kathryn Bigelow's strong, Oscar winning thriller "The Hurt Locker" (2008), Renner, within his rugged good looks and rock star swagger, there was an actor of fine, intimate skill. As of right now, his presence in a slew of action films is just beginning to make me worry a little for him. Granted, he has had the excellent fortune of delivering fine, solid work in excellent films like Brad Bird's "Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol" (2011) and as the archer Hawkeye in Joss Whedon's masterful "The Avengers." But, his increased visibility is reminding me of the periods where Hollywood seemed to be feverishly determined to make Colin Farrell and Matthew McConaughey massive movie stars by any means necessary... which means overexposure though increasingly weak films, thus making audiences prematurely tire of them. If Jeremy Renner keeps choosing to make inconsequential films like "The Bourne Legacy," then he will be robbed of creating a fine body of work and we will be robbed of a fine actor.
As it stands, the worst thing that I can say about "The Bourne Legacy," is that it is indeed the very type of impersonal, anonymous, and forgettable big budget action film that grow more tiresome to see, especially when we do have the likes of Christopher Nolan, Sam Mendes and Joss Whedon scaling new artistic heights within similar film genres. While Gilroy has had a hand in the conception of all of the Bourne films to date, there is no real point of view or artistic stamp that would make this film stand apart from anything else directed by any anonymous director from the stable of Jerry Bruckheimer's production company.
Say what you will about Judd Apatow and Quentin Tarantino and their often criticized manner of creating lengthy films, and some would say, over-indulgent films with their supposedly self-indulgent screenplays that they have seemingly fallen too much in love with. I will gladly take their films, which represent a true artistic voice and vision over the shiny blank slates of movies like "The Bourne Legacy" any day.
And if this series continues upon this path, whatever legacy it has built will be disastrously short lived.
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