Jason Bourne is the ultimate celluloid spy for the 21st century: a memory-addled, perfectly sculpted killing machine for whom fear is not an option. Since the franchise's inception in 2002, he's been the pulsating heart of the superlative Bourne films, which follow the former CIA assassin as he struggles to overcome a severe bout of amnesia. So how, then, do you shoot a Bourne movie without Bourne? This was the conundrum posed when Matt Damon, the actor who played him with such élan in the previous three instalments, decided in 2010 that he would not be returning for a fourth.
Challenged with keeping the franchise alive, writer and director Tony Gilroy, who had a hand in scripting the earlier Bourne films, has come up with an intriguing solution: rather than recasting the role, as the James Bond movies so frequently do, The Bourne Legacy introduces us to an entirely new running man, Aaron Cross. Played with steely stoicism by Jeremy Renner, Cross belongs to a clandestine programme, not-too-dissimilar to Bourne’s Treadstone, called Outcome, in which highly skilled operatives are “improved” by means of two pills: a green capsule, which enhances their physical performance, while a blue one boosts brain function.
Taking place at precisely the same time as The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), The Bourne Legacy begins promisingly, flitting back and forth between agency spooks panicking about Bourne’s whereabouts and a hirsute Cross on a survival mission in the freezing wastelands of Alaska. Sadly, it then becomes bogged down by a familiar cat-and-mouse plot: thanks to Bourne’s revelations about Treadstone, ruthless Colonel Eric Byer (Edward Norton) decides to terminate the Outcome programme immediately. Which means murdering all its scientists and current agents... Which means bumping off Cross... Bourne now isn’t the only agent on the run. To add to Cross's misery, he's out of those power-enhancing pills ("If he doesn’t viral out, he’s gonna run out of brain,” says one character of Cross). He needs the help of Dr Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz), a fellow fugitive who knows where the capsules are kept.
Gilroy, taking over the directing duties from Paul Greengrass, is more interested here in serving up a character drama about desperation – in this case, a drug addiction – than an electrifying espionage thriller. It doesn't work. Overlong, overly complicated and with one villain so hackneyed it veers towards parody, The Bourne Legacy lacks the intelligence of its predecessors. Of course, it's also missing the magnetic charisma of Damon, which Renner, though watchable, can't hope to meet. If this is Bourne's legacy, he should amend his will.
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