Action, Adventure But Short On Story Is This Bourne Story!
By Lorenzo Marchessi
The fourth film in the Bourne Legacy series (originally authored in the books by Robert Ludlum), was written and directed by Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, Extreme Measures), along with his brother Dan Gilroy (Real Steel, City of Light), and has a simple but direct approach to making the entire film about eliminating everything that was set up in the first three films. The entire organization of specially programmed people with double agendas is cancelled and this includes killing everyone involved.
Taking the seat front and center now is Jeremy Remer (The Avengers, The Hurt Locker) playing Aaron Cross, a character who starts out with one idea of what his purpose is and then suddenly realizes that he has to avoid the very people who are programing him with drugs. He does a great job as the impartial, intelligent and super-athletic man-killer he is programmed to be while realizing he’s now the target of the organizations destruction.
Ironically he finds a friend in the very medical community that is inducing him with his super-human drug addiction – who is artfully played by Rachel Weizs. Her initial ignorance to the big picture of what she is actually contributing too – changes abruptly and she soon learns that Jeremy’s character is sincere in his attempts to beat the system that built him.
The movie is filled with fights, killing snipers, running and car chases of incredible detail – but with a wonderful visual flow that makes some of these sequences seem a little too unlikely to actually happen in real life.
Some other notable performances include Stacey Keach (American History X, The Bourne Legecy) and Edward Norton (The Incredible Hulk, Fight Club) as the people in charge of the agency that decides it needs to shut down its super-spy program. Donna Murphy (Star Trek: Insurrection, Tangeled) put in a small put tough character who realizes Jeremy has figured out that they are after him –and he in turn – goes after them.
The film is completely more action than story and has some good moments of double-jeopardy that you really can’t guess which way the action is going. Overall the feel was different from the original Marr Damon series of films – which for me, worked better overall. But this film has some interesting and intense moments and if you like action – it’s here!