The Bourne Legacy

“We are the sin eaters. It means that we take the moral excrement we find in this equation and we bury it down deep inside of us, so that the rest of our case can stay pure. That is the job. We are morally indefensible, and absolutely necessary.”

While the trilogy has come to an end, another one is just beginning. Jason Bourne, the title’s main character, has finished the majority of his story it seems. But that’s not to say he doesn’t make a cameo, at least not a visual one. No, Jason Bourne is cited in some conversations, but this story is becoming grander in scope, focusing more on what lies underneath the franchise Treadstone.

The beginning, however, was confusing. While I knew it would all be explained, that still doesn’t excuse the detracted nature of the first thirty minutes or so.

Jeremy Renner is the star of this movie, an actor who I would say could compete with Matt Damon any day. Aaron Cross, the new hero of the Bourne series, not to be confused with James Patterson’s Alex Cross, is a wonderful character, a very intelligent and crafty man that fits in the same boat as Jason Bourne.

One difference I could see, which is trivial and meant to show how alike the two are, is that Aaron knows who he is, making this story less about identity and more about becoming something great.

It’s about Bourne’s legacy.

That, sadly makes the story feel like a prequel to a bigger movie. One major criticism is the ending; there is no resolution.  I would have liked to see something shown about our characters, say what comes next, their motives, something besides a happy and cheerful boat ride floating in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

But negatives aside, the fight scenes make up for this boring end.

As said, Cross is an amazing fighter, an enhanced soldier that is tracking down both the doctor and the medicine he so desperately needs. See, if he doesn’t, his mind will go into regression, decaying. Flashbacks show the horror of this possibility, making their trek across the world that much more satisfying.

Two of my favorite scenes were comprised of action. One being when the agents are in the doctor’s house, searching for Cross who has just revealed himself. While simple, the usage of a nail and air pressure tank provide stunning fear and pain, to both the viewers and the man getting hit. It was sheer brilliance, as was when Cross fed his tracker to a wolf that had been hunting him down in the Alaskan wilderness.

Characters weren’t that fleshed-out, Cross’s backstory being the sole piece of character development.

Rachel Weisz, the doctor, is, to quote a cliché, a very strong female lead. While for much of the story she stumbles along to gain her foot holding (with good reason, seeing a psychotic shootout/rampage only days earlier) the climax is solved brilliantly by her doing. The rag doll animations of the antagonist was breathtaking cinema.

Even though the ending suffered and the characters weren’t like that of a literary drama, an action movie is, if done well, many times a great movie. Pacing is largely the main factor, and The Bourne Legacy has that down.

Now if the series’ legacy improves, we might see a story in the realm of James Bond, possibly even a Skyfall. Though, they’re two different kinds of movies, one being the romanticized spy, the other a more Cold War-esque guy running from the rouge operations.

Still, I love a movie that can keep me interested and off the distractions of internet.

Rating: 7.5/10