The Bourne Legacy

So firstly lets get some facts absolutely straight.
1. The Bourne Legacy was and is NOT part of the Bourne series
2. The Bourne Legacy was written by a guy called Eric Van Lustbader in 2004.
3. There are 6 more novels in the series – Betrayal, Sanction, Deception, Objective, Dominion and Imperative
4. The movie has nothing to do with the novel or any of the 6 novels released thence.
5. Robert Ludlum has nothing to do with the novels of Lustbader. He has just permitted him to use the character. He has also been credited as the inspiration for the movie but that’s where it all ends.

First Doug Liman, then Paul Greengrass and now Tony Gilroy joins the list of directors who have been involved in Bourne Movies to date. Liman kick started it all and Greengrass was responsible for the 2 sequels that followed and are rated by many as the best in the series. Greengrass has nothing much to fear after the release of Legacy. Not because Gilroy is a bad director by any stretch of imagination. But more because if Matt Damon is not in a Bourne movie then it has probably lost half its sheen.

Thankfully, Jeremy Renner doesn’t play Bourne. The character of Bourne as shown in a few pics and rushes from the previous movies is played by Damon. But 13.839 seconds of screen time is all he gets. Renner plays the role of Aaron Cross who is part of a programme called Outcome which is being run in parallel to Operation Blackbriar and Treadstone. It is spearheaded by Eric Byer (Edward Norton).

With the shit hitting the roof after Pamela Landy’s (Joan Allen) exposé on Blackbriar, all so called “patriotic agencies” start dismantling their respective programmes. Outcome is part of this initiative. For the un-initiated, dismantling would mean doing away with – leaving no proof – incinerating all evidence – killing everyone remotely associated with the programme.

And so each and every field agent is done away with from Karachi to Seoul to back home. Aaron Cross is however, in a training exercise in Alaska and manages to evade extermination. He heads straight across to the only person who also miraculously survives these attempts to eliminate - Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz). And the story that follows is like most other Bourne movies.

Credit to Gilroy – who has also written the previous ones – for ensuring the consistency in the story line and little or no gaps. But then, he has also not come up with anything spectacular or new. So if you have seen the previous ones you may be a tad disappointed. But if you haven’t then you may miss out on certain key connections that are important. More importantly – where were you when all the excitement was happening?

Bourne Legacy is a must watch for self confessed Bourne fans. The final chase sequence is very good and edge of the seat material. The build up towards the finalé is however quite slow with just a couple of exciting moments such as when Martha and Aaron meet for the first time after they escape being killed. Overall a well made movie. But not so important to watch on the big screen. Good performances overall. 6.5 on 10.

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1065461017/