The Bourne Legacy
- (August 10th, 2012): PG-13
Distributor: Universal
Pictures
Opening Weekend Box Office:
#1 with $38,142,825
Domestic Box Office
Gross to-date: $42,000,180
Gross Revenue: $49,800,180
Production Budget:
$125 million
Director: Tony Gilroy
My first exposure to Jeremy Renner
was his role as a psychotic villain in 2003’s S.W.A.T., a character that serves as my main association for the
actor, but after his Academy Award-caliber performances in 2009’s The Hurt Locker and 2010’s The Town, his overall levels of
popularity skyrocketed with general audiences.
This year alone, Renner wowed audiences as IMF Agent Brandt in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and
as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Clint Barton/Hawkeye in The Avengers; so at the very least, it looked like the white-hot
thespian was primed for a cinematic hat trick with The Bourne Legacy. Add
Hollywood heavyweights like Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton to the equation, and
star power for the summer’s newest blockbuster was absolutely off the charts,
thereby generating a large amount of audience interest that wouldn’t
necessarily suffer from the fact that many potential viewers incorrectly believed
that Renner would be assuming the direct role of Jason Bourne. To their credit, Universal identified
repeatedly in promotions that Renner would be playing Aaron Cross, a truth that
was even hinted at, if not directly emphasized, in the tagline; “There Was
Never Just One” not only indicates that more than one super-spy exits within
the Bourne universe, but also that Legacy could signal the start of another
film trilogy. And yet, even with that
message not necessarily coming across, the new casting choice was met with more
curiosity than anger. At the very least,
I knew that Renner would be able to deliver as a no-holds-barred badass, and
when rumors surfaced that talks were already in the works to bring both Damon
and Renner back for a fifth installment, I knew that I couldn’t miss what was
sure to be one of the most enjoyable films of the summer.
Picking up shortly after the events
of Ultimatum, where Jason Bourne
exposed the illegal activities of Operation Blackbriar and the Treadstone
Project to the world, Legacy shifts
focus to Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), a top agent for another black ops program
within the government known as “Outcome.”
Seeking to sweep all clandestine operations under the rug in order to
avoid public scrutiny in the wake of Bourne’s whistle-blowing, the director of
Outcome, Eric Byer (Edward Norton), decides to eliminate all the assets of his
division, which includes both government agents and military scientists. Some fast thinking allows Cross to escape his
attempted murder, and he quickly resolves to find Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel
Weisz), a scientist with ties to his past, who herself has just narrowly
survived attempted termination. It turns
out that the agents of Outcome partake in a chemical regimen that enhances both
their physical and mental abilities, and since Cross exhausted his supply prior
to his “elimination,” he needs Shearing to provide him with refills before he
begins experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
Once Byer discovers that both Cross and Shearing are alive and working
together, he deploys even more assassins, which our heroes must avoid while
trying to find a cure for Cross’ chemical dependence.
As anyone could have predicted,
Jeremy Renner delivers a strong performance and is more than capable as a
souped-up superspy, but the reality is that he serves as the only true
bright-point in an otherwise mediocre action film that wastes its considerable
potential and favors familiar plot devices over genuine creativity. Renner has an unceasingly likable personality
and physically punishes any government pion unfortunate enough to cross his
path, but his presence overshadows veterans like Rachel Weisz and Edward
Norton, who really weren’t given much to do within the narrative other than
play a glorified damsel-in-distress and one-dimensional villain, respectively;
what a shame, because these three performing at the top of their game together
would have been award-worthy. That
misuse of acting talent aside, I was also genuinely put-off by the whole story
angle involving chemically-enhanced agents; not because of its lack of
creativity, but rather, its lack of originality. One of my favorite television shows is the
spy-drama Nikita, which had a major
story-arc this past season of government assassins (“Guardians”) using pill
supplements (“The Regimen”) to enhance their abilities, faced with the threat of
severe withdrawals should regular dosing cease…I don’t know who came up with
the idea first, but the point is that I have seen it before. With five years passing since the last
installment of the Bourne series,
writers had plenty of time to come up with something engaging, but instead fell
short. Now, if these were the only
shortcomings associated with The Bourne
Legacy, I might be more forgiving, but the unresolved nature of the story
in its entirety and the film’s overall lack of energy are misfires that are
near-impossible to overlook.
As I hinted at in the “Short and
Sweet” review, The Bourne Legacy
relies heavily on audience recall of the events of The Bourne Ultimatum; now, that might be okay if this entry held
its own as a standalone film, but the reality is that this sequel will only be
able to tell a complete story if ANOTHER sequel comes down the pipe. It is difficult enough to remember some of
the finer elements of a previous entry five years after the fact, but consider
this comparison to the spirit of the original trilogy: once he discovered his
identity, Jason Bourne resolved to take down a government conspiracy; Aaron
Cross, on the other hand, could give a damn that the people he works for tried
to kill him, and is only concerned with replacing his medication. As the film ends, things just feel so
unresolved; unless a sequel picks up the story immediately with Cross and Bourne
working together to punish Byer and stop other black ops operations, then Legacy serves as little more than
cinematic filler to introduce a new character, set the stage for a better
movie, and cash-in on audience familiarity with a franchise. And, given the trailers for this newest
summer sequel, I was expecting mile-a-minute action, but outside of the scenes
already revealed in promotional materials, narrative progression is actually
sluggish and a little boring. To put it
as bluntly as possible, if you want a truly enjoyable cinematic experience of
Jeremy Renner as a super-spy, you would be far better off renting Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
Based on the considerable draw that
I hinted at earlier in this review, it is of little surprise to anyone that The Bourne Legacy debuted to a solid, if
slightly unimpressive, $38 million; thereby virtually guaranteeing continued
life for the revered franchise.
Admittedly, it wasn’t too much of a challenge for a PG-13 sequel to an
insanely popular film series to outperform an R-rated standalone comedy (The Campaign), but the Hollywood
decision-makers still seem relatively pleased, even against a $125 million
budget. Still, I would be a little
worried, because word of mouth just isn’t going to be that strong, thereby
signaling a significant week-to-week drop-off, and paving the way for a top
debut for The Expendables 2. For as disappointed as I was in The Bourne Legacy, I actually do not
find myself soured against the actors or the franchise, but rather, I am just
praying for a quick turnaround in terms of a sequel, so that the series can
maintain its strong reputation. In the
end, the final decision is up to you, but be warned, if you have high
expectations in relation to Jeremy Renner’s newest project, you will likely
walk away unsatisfied.
Overall Recommendation: Low
