Does Renner Tarnish "The Bourne Legacy"?

“A Bourne film without Jason Bourne?”

This was the question on filmgoers’ lips when The Bourne Legacy, the fourth installment in the spy franchise, was announced.  For Universal, the hardest task wouldn’t be producing the film without Matt Damon, but rather clearing up the confusion of audiences when they learned that Jason Bourne himself would not appear in the film.  Was the part being recast?  Would the series be sent back to the drawing board as part of Hollywood’s recent reboot-obsessed culture?

A well-executed marketing campaign cleared up these matters quite nicely: Legacy would be a sequel to 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum (Paul Greengrass), focusing on a new character who must deal with the consequences of Bourne’s actions.  For a critically and financially successful franchise that had been driven by Damon’s performance, it would be a huge gamble.

Rolling the dice here is Tony Gilroy, who takes over as director after writing or co-writing the screenplays of the three previous films.  Legacy posed a unique challenge as Gilroy, who along with his brother Dan served as screenwriter once again, had to take the series in a new direction while remaining mindful of the original story.

The film’s opening, occurring simultaneous to the events at the close of Ultimatum, introduces us to our new protagonist, Aaron Cross, (Jeremy Renner) as he takes part in a training assignment deep in the Alaska bush for Operation Outcome, a Department of Defense black-ops program whose agents are administered daily doses of experimental medication designed to enhance their mental and physical abilities.  Cross, like Bourne, is a freak of nature: he leaps from cliffs, dives deep into icy cold water, and possesses rifle skills that would make an Old West gunslinger’s jaw drop.

Spawned from Treadstone and Blackbriar, the illegal CIA assassination squads from which Bourne has leaked classified documentation in, Outcome is thrown into jeopardy of public exposure.  Rather than have this happen, program director Eric Byer (Edward Norton) gives the order to terminate all of its international field agents and medical scientists, including Dr. Marta Shearing, (Rachel Weisz) thus burying any evidence of its existence.  Able to dodge assassination but left sans medication, Cross seeks out Shearing, who has also narrowly avoided death, the only person who can help him get the fix that will avert a crash of his system.

Amidst the escapes of Cross and Shearing, the strategizing of the government officials looking to cover their backsides, and the transition from Bourne’s storyline, there is a lot going on here, as there should be.  But while the original trilogy handled the interweaving of their respectively dense plots and subplots with style and fluidity, the first half of Legacy comes across as muddled and scattershot, seemingly struggling under its own weight.  

The lean, crisp dialogue that had become a hallmark of the franchise is nearly gone, replaced by a screenplay rife with exposition.  Too much time is spent explaining things, and while this may in part be intended as a service to first-timers who are uninitiated in the Bourne universe, there are far too many moments that feel needlessly dragged out.

Fortunately, when the film finally does get on with it, the audience is treated to some riveting action sequences, including the series’ signature teeth-shattering, fast-paced, hand-to-hand combat.  Director of Photography Robert Elswit, who dazzled with his work on last year’s Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird), does not disappoint, as an extended chase scene barrels over the rooftops and through the dense streets of Manila, packed with ingenious shots from virtually every conceivable angle.

This is, without a doubt, the highest-profile role to date for Renner, who hasn’t had to carry a film since his superb portrayal of Sergeant First Class William James in Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker (2008), which earned him a best actor Oscar nomination.  Since then, Renner has turned in a series of fantastic supporting performances, ranging from a bank robber in The Town (Ben Affleck, 2010), to the superhero Hawkeye in Joss Whedon’s mega-blockbuster, Marvel’s The Avengers, released earlier this year.  

There was certainly no question about Renner’s chops coming into such a demanding role, but Matt Damon is a tough act to follow, as he had created in Jason Bourne one of the most sympathetic and relatable cinematic action heroes.  While Bourne’s exploits provide the framework for this film, Gilroy makes the right decision in letting Cross’ story stand on its own.  Once the connection between the three top-secret programs is established, the focus shifts entirely towards Byer’s manhunt for Cross and Shearing, and the clunky first half gives way to a more free and easy conclusion.

Thankfully, Cross’ story never gets bogged down by Bourne’s.  This bodes well for Renner, as it allows him to create a distinctive character.  Cross is inquisitive and personable.  He tries, albeit unsuccessfully, to form relationships with others in the program, making small talk with another field agent who he bunks with during his training.  And while Bourne’s aim is to take down his superiors, Cross’ motivation is firmly rooted in self-preservation.    

Alongside Renner’s adept performance as Cross, it is ultimately Weisz’s Dr. Shearing who is the most compelling character.  Shocked into awareness by the attempt on her life, she comes to realize the full implications of her research, and is transformed by Weisz, who pulls off an utterly convincing American accent to boot, from a coolly detached professional to an emotionally invested fugitive from justice.  This is where production designer Kevin Thompson makes his mark, as the orderly, sterile, almost blindingly white environment of Shearing’s suburban laboratory is gradually traded for the dark disorder of the urban underworld to which she must accompany Cross.

As in all of the Bourne films, we are left with unfinished business, which begs the question of what lies in the future.  While Legacy never matches the lofty heights of its predecessors, the fall-off is much less than can be expected of the fourth film in a series that is without its star player, and the result is a capable, if innocuous, action picture that doesn’t sully a proud tradition.  This is a franchise that still has legs, and may yet see the return of Jason Bourne.