The Bourne Legacy

Rating: 6/10 (17 May 2013)

I'm not sure what it was but this newest Bourne film felt a bit incomplete as the credits rolled. It felt every bit "tune in next movie for the further adventures of" instead of a Bourne film that might stand on its own without the necessity of seeing the next one coming down the pike in the future. I guess that was the whole point, but I wasn't satisfied with the whole although the visit to and action in Manila delivered plenty of suspense and roller coaster action. While Treadstone is trying to find and eliminate Jason Bourne, Eric Byer (Ed Norton) is commissioned by Mark Turso (Stacy Keach) to "clean up" anything dealing with super soldiers (humans genetically engineered with superior mental and physical abilities), including scientists and those men "bio-engineered". One such soldier is Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), nearly blown to bits by a drone plane's missiles while "training" in the mountains of Canada (?). He discovers a beacon inserted in his leg, removes it, places it in the mouth of a bloodthirsty wolf, and watches as the next missile temporarily allows him to go undetected (Byer and the military personnel behind the drone plane attack believe the wolf was Cross). A scientist (Zeljko Ivanek), important in the genetic breakthrough that made Treadstone and Outcome such successes in the formation of human killing machines of amazing skills and strength, speed and agility, goes on a killing spree, mass shooting every scientist in the laboratory, almost succeeding except for Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) who is saved by the security finally rescuing her in the nick of time. Byer will send agents in to execute Marta, but this time Cross comes to her aid, helping to remove the threat to her life. On the lam, Cross needs "blues" due to the worsening effects that happen to those like him experimented on; these pills help to retain the mental strength and hold off the psychotic effects that might come if left unabated. Marta believes she can help Cross "viral out" and maintain his mental prowess if she can get access to materials found in a lab in Manila. So Cross will try to help her do just that; all of this while Byer and all the tools and manpower available to him through Turso try to find him and Marta. There's an intense chase scene at the end where Cross and Marta attempt to circumvent Byer's plans to put them down one way or another. There's even a Manila "soldier" after them, with quite a race within the busy streets and highways of the Philippines as Cross and Marta, on motorcycle, try to evade their pursuers (the police and super soldier). Lots of close calls in tight spaces between vehicles and avoiding traffic all around them. Really cool "climb" scenes where Cross scales buildings and walks across rooftops with relative ease as if simian. I thought Weisz was very good (no surprise), put through the ringer, and Renner has a kind face that is unable to contain emotion unlike Damon's Bourne who could often mask the inner emotional struggles within his psyche and keep in check the baggage that existed and haunted him. Still, saying that, this film never quite hit that sweet spot so typical of all three of the previous Bourne films. Cross' back story is hinted at in bits and pieces; we know that Byer was once in charge of him in the Middle East, and that through great agonies suffered, Cross wanted to be part of the super soldier program. But Cross' moral rationale of what his superiors stand and are responsible for is ultimately what pushes him to question even early on Treadstone and Outcome's ultimately agenda and endgame. While there was a strong sense of realism even though Bourne's fighting skills and superb intellect and ability to adjust to any situation quickly were superior, The Bourne Legacy is even more outlandish and far-fetched, using science as the means to create a superhero. This feels the most like a comic book character created in a lab; Aaron Cross might as well have been bitten by a spider or doused with peculiar radiation. This stretches credibility to the max. Like when, all of a sudden, Cross can take out men in a matter of seconds after Marta injects him with a viral cocktail that seems to immediately turn him into a fighting machine. It's awesome to watch, but this bit of sudden violence asks us to accept that science can provide much in quick order. I guess we need to look at this film as a beginning of something "better" later, because I never felt The Bourne Legacy quite reached its full potential. This does leave open a Matt Damon return if he felt so inclined.