Fourth time lucky
11 Aug 2012 12:00 AM GMT
Jeremy Renner, the new face in the Bourne series, fills in for Matt Damon, quite adequately. But unlike Damon’s Jason Bourne, Renner’s Cross is not in search of answers to questions that he does not know. Here, Cross fits the pieces of the puzzle without much bewilderment. He knows what is happening to him and who is causing it to happen.
Fourth in a series, which was rejected by Damon because of the change of director, The Bourne Legacy had to take a little detour without the actual Bourne in action – so we are told that Bourne was not the only ‘enhanced’ spy. There’s whole coterie of them. And when Jason Bourne digs out about Operation Blackbriar, the CIA is forced to terminate the other operations. Asap. Cross, an agent of Operation Outcome, escapes. But he couldn’t just run and hide, he needs his fix – the combination of green and blue pills that gives him ‘superhuman’ qualities.
Though thematically The Bourne Legacy differs, when it comes to action it retains the fast pace that the three films set before, and as before we move from one location to another, the urgency of the situation – get to the source of the pills fast or be cheated out of it by people with unimaginable resources – conveyed quite well.
Rachel Weisz as usual brings out the character she plays – the spy doctor who ends up helping Cross find a solution – brilliantly. Her disbelief is quite believable. Of course, Hollywood cliches plague the film. Thrilling or not, the climax set in Manila, gives a sense of déjà vu. Up the roof chase through a shanty, screeching bikes on narrow Asian roads... and, the gaping Asian who ends up whisking the duo into the picturesque interiors of Philippines in his boat, is a cherry atop that cliched cake.
The films ends on a note that, if needed, Bourne series could be revived. For the fifth time round. Not that we are complaining. Bourne series is definitely not mindless. If nothing, it helps us imagine the news on international section of the dailies afresh.
Fourth in a series, which was rejected by Damon because of the change of director, The Bourne Legacy had to take a little detour without the actual Bourne in action – so we are told that Bourne was not the only ‘enhanced’ spy. There’s whole coterie of them. And when Jason Bourne digs out about Operation Blackbriar, the CIA is forced to terminate the other operations. Asap. Cross, an agent of Operation Outcome, escapes. But he couldn’t just run and hide, he needs his fix – the combination of green and blue pills that gives him ‘superhuman’ qualities.
Though thematically The Bourne Legacy differs, when it comes to action it retains the fast pace that the three films set before, and as before we move from one location to another, the urgency of the situation – get to the source of the pills fast or be cheated out of it by people with unimaginable resources – conveyed quite well.
Rachel Weisz as usual brings out the character she plays – the spy doctor who ends up helping Cross find a solution – brilliantly. Her disbelief is quite believable. Of course, Hollywood cliches plague the film. Thrilling or not, the climax set in Manila, gives a sense of déjà vu. Up the roof chase through a shanty, screeching bikes on narrow Asian roads... and, the gaping Asian who ends up whisking the duo into the picturesque interiors of Philippines in his boat, is a cherry atop that cliched cake.
The films ends on a note that, if needed, Bourne series could be revived. For the fifth time round. Not that we are complaining. Bourne series is definitely not mindless. If nothing, it helps us imagine the news on international section of the dailies afresh.
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