“The Bourne Legacy” is a baffling experience for fans of the Bourne trilogy since it feels like a poor man’s version of the real thing. Tony Gilroy, writer and director of the film, seems to misunderstand the appeal of the series and changes gears by transforming an action-packed premise into an unbelievable chore to sit through; a chore of 135 minutes long where there’s virtually only one action sequence and it arrives at the 100 minute mark.
There was an emotional gravitas to the previous movies that made them compelling. We were discovering the conspiracy at the same time as Jason Bourne and once he, and the audience, knew the truth about his involvement in the shadow organization we became invested in his redemption. The movie wasn’t about government covert missions and assassins, it was about a man with great resources trying to uncover his past. And, it was an action movie through and through.
This time, our protagonist is one Aaron Cross (played by Jeremy Renner), an agent who just needs his pills to survive. The training program supplies pills to all of its agents in order to give them superhuman skills or, just in case, to get rid of them. They apparently are injected with a virus with the pills acting as antidotes (it’s all murky and somewhat contrived). Cross never develops a personality or feels in command of the story as Gilroy gives equal importance to the role of a doctor played by Rachel Weisz. She is a target for assassination since she worked in the lab that treated the agents but is more annoying than useful and the movie dedicates way too many scenes to its flat and unconvincing characters.
In an attempt to give continuity, Gilroy patches scenes of the last movie into the fabric of this one and gives glimpses of earlier characters (he also shamelessly creates a twist at the end that invalidates the closing scenes of the previous movie in case there’s a sequel). By stripping this flimsy link, the movie would have had nothing in common with its predecessors.
“The Bourne Legacy” proves how vital were Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon to the series. The frenetic editing along with the incessant beat of its soundtrack brought urgency and momentum, thoroughly lacking here and since there’s no emotional investment whatsoever, it quickly becomes a bore. It is a waste of talent and an awkward sequel/reboot of sorts that doesn’t engage. This is one of summer’s most disappointing movies.
