LEAD CAST: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach, Oscar Isaac, Joan Allen, Albert Finney, David Strathairn, Scott Glenn DIRECTOR: Tony Gilroy SCREENWRITER: Tony Gilroy, Dan Gilroy PRODUCER: Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley, Jeffry M. Weiner, Ben Smith EDITOR: John Gilroy MUSICAL DIRECTOR: James Newton Howard GENRE: Action & Suspense CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Elswit RUNNING TIME: 125 minutes DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures LOCATION: USA, Philippines, South Korea and brief scenes from a few other countries
Technical Assessment: 4
Moral Assessment: 2.5
CINEMA rating: V14 (For viewers aged 14 and above)
The opening scene of The Bourne Legacy teases the mind: how could
anyone survive deep winter in the frozen wilderness wearing only a blanket and
rubbing his palms in front of a little bonfire?
Of course, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) is not just anyone—he’s a biologically altered government spy running
for his life. He has been marked for
assassination by the Defense Department headed by retired Air Force Col. Eric
Byer (Edward Norton). Jason Bourne had
supposedly exposed the government project of chemically heightening the spies’
skills, Intelligence decided to terminate a similar project, of which Cross is
a member. Col. Byer wants to terminate
not only these biologically altered and endowed spies, but also everybody who
knows about it, including the research scientist Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel
Weisz) who had treated Cross as he was being chemically “empowered” for a
mission. Alone in the Alaskan wilderness
Cross takes a blue and a green pill daily, his “maintenance medicine” to keep
his powers up. Down to his last couple
of pills, he climbs snowy peaks barehanded, nimbler than a mountain goat, and
finally comes to civilization in search of Dr. Shearing, for his fix. He finds her in the oddest of circumstances
but alas, the drugs are manufactured halfway around the globe—in Manila.
The popular espionage franchise with Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
has earned almost &1 billion at the global box office. Tony Gilroy, director/writer of The Bourne Legacy, takes the Robert
Ludlum creation to the next level by introducing a new hero (Renner) whose fate
has been shaped and directed by the events in the first three Bourne
films. The first 30 minutes or so of The Bourne Legacy is rather slow, apparently
careful to establish the legitimacy of the new hero while ensuring that the
titular one, Jason Bourne, remains a menacing presence despite his absence in
the film. Real action picks up when
Cross saves Dr. Shearing from assassination and the two fugitives are hunted
down by the government killers. The
action assumes blinding speed in Manila, as Renner does the slums rooftops
while Weisz trails him on the alleys; then as tandem motorbike riders snaking
through the crazy traffic in Manila’s seediest neighborhoods. The lead cast, notably Renner, Weisz and
Norton, do justice to their parts, giving credence to the plot.
The Bourne Legacy raises questions in medical ethics. How far may we go in altering nature—the
human being—to serve our ends? Midway
through the film the viewer may ask, could this thing really be happening under
our noses, scientists and doctors conniving with governments and using people
to kill? What for? Animated and timely discussions over dinner
with friends or family may result from such brainpicking. The
Bourne Legacy, quite a film, and something that Filipino movie buffs
wouldn’t want to miss—being “made in Manila”.
But what sordid views of the city are shown! The closing scene, a boat leisurely gliding
on an island-peppered sea, speaks more positively of the Philippines—and it
looks like a prelude to another Bourne-again movie.
