1. Though it's rough around the edges, and not as strong as the previous films, Bourne’s legacy is
definitely alive and continuing, offering a fresh start on the A-grade action-thriller franchise.
The Bourne Legacy has really tough shoes to fill. The Bourne trilogy was a strong,
intelligent and thrilling action-franchise that proved that the action genre is capable of offering
mature, dark and realistic content that is simultaneously exciting and fun. Matt Damon was the
star of the films as much as directors Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass were for their thrilling
directions. Also, the ending of The Bourne Ultimatum sent a message that it’s probably all over
for Bourne, by having him find out who he is and expose his torment that led to his agency
masterminds’ arrests. Without Matt Damon returning, many, many fans were disappointed,
angry and too stubborn to consider a Bourne Legacy.
Director/series’ screenwriter Tony Gilroy publicly announced that Legacy would
continue the franchise in a different direction to tell a much broader story, because there was
never just one special agent. If you watched Ultimatum, you’d recall Nicky Parsons uttering to
Bourne “They had to break down agents before they can use them… They said you were the first
one.” In Legacy¸ Jeremy Renner plays one of the others: Aaron Cross, a legally-dead and
scientifically-enhanced CIA agent who leads the way in this installment. While it’s rough around
the edges, mainly in some scripting weaknesses, Renner’s solid but improvable performance and
inevitable comparisons to the original trilogy making it seem worse, The Bourne Legacy is still a
deep, lush, and exciting action-thriller worth seeing this summer and an important next chapter
for the franchise.
The films opens during the events of Ultimatum, specifically where journalist Simon
Ross caught the CIA’s attention for his knowledge on Treadstone and Bourne. Throughout the

2. first half, the CIA is dealing with Bourne in the background while a new problem surfaces:
Operation Outcome, a project conducted by scientists studying the drugs its agents use to
enhance their mental and physical abilities, is at risk of being exposed due to Jason Bourne
exposing Operation Blackbriar and Treadstone. Edward Norton plays Eric Byer, a retired USAF
colonel that oversees Outcome. Byer goes after every agent linked to Outcome, including Cross,
to tie up loose ends and save the agency’s hide. But Cross finds a way to survive, and the CIA
must track him down and kill him before he causes trouble like Bourne did. Rachel Weisz plays
Marta Shearing, one of the scientists from Outcome, who also has to run from her agency for the
same reasons.
The pairing of Marta and Cross is one of the best and most important aspects of the film
because this is only the beginning. We had Bourne and Marie run together for a while in the
original trilogy, until she was killed in the second film. Now we have Marta and Cross, who
together form a strong and growing partnership that has a lot of potential in this new trilogy.
Their chemistry is good so far, but it shows a lot of potential for something. Weisz is
exceptional, as is Edward Norton as Byer, both showing off their veteran status as actors by
really portraying every emotion their roles require so strongly and naturally. In future sequels,
Byer and Marta are going to be very strong characters with interesting character arcs even for
their slightly-clichéd roles. Renner cannot have the same glory, though, because his performance
is a mixed bag. I saw plenty of his Hurt Locker character’s mannerisms during the first half.
Here, he’s expected to be more charismatic for a skilled professional and most likely somewhat
broken down as the CIA’s line of work would do to anyone. He doesn’t engage us here as much
as other actors have done with other strong action films, one of them (I hate to compare) being
Matt Damon’s tough and determined Bourne in the original trilogy. However, Renner did do

3. solid work in the second half, offering a new and more relatable personality for a genre that
usually has stiff and clichéd ones. And screenwriter Gilroy’s writing wasn’t always the strongest
when Cross tried making small talk.
Renner also excels as good as Damon did during action scenes. He did his own stunts,
and many of the fight sequences will make you cringe. My audience did. He reminds you that he
is a badass, professional killer, and the sequences are so raw and hard-hitting that they’re a blast
to watch. There aren’t many action sequences in the film, and for a 2 hour 15 minute film, it
sounds disappointing. The truth is, this film has enough action sequences to satisfy its audience,
and as I said before, a deeper and interesting parallel story is being introduced here and needs its
time. The film doesn’t rush its necessary new information, so the running time is actually pretty
fast and the action is mostly paced nicely between sequences of talking and ass-kicking. I really
liked the Alaskan sequence in the first third of the film where Cross is being pursued by a UAV
drone sent by Byer. It’s not an extraordinary scene, but it’s focused on the thrill and filmed with
visual flair. The visuals overall are lush and should make you consider a Blu-Ray purchase in
four months. The sound of Aaron Cross punching and gunshots being fired are also top-notch
and cringe-worthy.
For all these strengths, I have to agree with the critics on some gripes. First, there are
sequences where talking could have been simplified a bit to even the pacing around the middle of
the film. We understand there is a big story unraveling, but a few less and more stronger words
could have done the job better. Editing transitions aren’t always perfect between talking and
motion sequences, resulting in a more B-grade pacing in the narrative than the A-grade pacing
we experienced during the original trilogy’s run. Ultimatum won the Oscar for Best Editing in
’07, an action film of all movies. Also, the ending will be abrupt for some, but it does open many

4. new possibilities for the franchise. It marks the beginning of a tough adventure for Marta and
Cross and judging by Gilroy’s directing, the Bourne story should continue with strength and
skill.
Overall, Legacy is a good but imperfect action-thriller, the strengths being its visuals,
acting and action scenes. It suffers from having high expectations and some minor narrative
deficiencies, but Gilroy has plenty to learn from in order to create an outstanding sequel.