Review: The Bourne Legacy

There is no denying that the Bourne Films are incredible. The concept, though perhaps not original, is quick, intelligent and, for the most part, highly entertaining.

First there was The Bourne Identity – an amnesiac assassin, this could be interesting.

Then came The Bourne Supremacy – many assassination attempts on Jason Bourne, still highly exciting.

Then we had The Bourne Ultimatum – the epic conclusion, the discovery of Treadstone, the end of the trilogy.

Only, that wasn’t the end. Five years after the release of the ‘final’ Bourne film, comes a new addition: The Bourne Legacy. The plot follows Aaron Cross (played by Jeremy Renner) on a training assignment for Operation Outcome, steadily popping little green and blue pills. This is set during the same time as The Bourne Ultimatum, so as this is happening, Jason Bourne exposed Operation Blackbriar and the Treadstone Project, leading to FBI investigations, and the attempted elimination of all ‘Outcome’ assets.

Only, it’s never that easy. You would have thought after three films of chasing Bourne, the CIA would realize that you can’t simply train an assassin, and kill them easily when you need to. The story follows Aaron Cross and Dr. Marta Shearing on their escape from Operation Outcome, as the truth behind the little blue and green pills is revealed.

The concept and the ideas that have gone into this film are absolutely fantastic. However, the overall execution of the film is another story entirely. As all Bourne films tend to go, there are large scenes of chasing through city streets where the audience is left to wonder, who is chasing him? Why are they chasing him?

And then, toward to end of each of the first three films, these questions are finally explained, to the finally understanding amnesiac Bourne, and to us, the audience. However, The Bourne Legacy doesn’t quite work like that. There are large bits left unexplained and the audience is left highly confused. I left the cinema myself, feeling slightly disappointed. However I went home and went googled the synopsis the whole thing made a lot more sense. The concept was great, the character development was great, the actors were great, especially Edward Norton and Jeremy Rimmer, both amazing. Something clearly just went wrong in the execution of the film, and that was slightly disappointing to see.

However, I have heard tell of a new film, a fifth installment, with both Matt Damon and Jeremy Rimmer. Hopefully that film will explain things a little better, and those two together should be brilliant.

I would recommend anyone to go and see it, but be prepared. My message in a sentence: It is not as good as the first three.