The Bourne Legacy has not got much in common with Jason Bourne’s adventures. Tony Gilroy introduces a new character to us: Aaron Cross. Gilroy, who wrote the script to Bourne Trilogy, decided to take on the challenge of directing the film himself.

Another super agent, Cross (great Jeremy Renner: The Avengers, The Hurt Locker) emerges from the depth of the icy sea, starts a fire and scares a pack of wolves within minutes. Right from the start you can see what distinguishes it from Bourne. Bourne is rescued by a fisherman from a stormy sea, groggy not knowing his identity Jason had to discover the truth about himself and find the strength to fight against his superiors. Cross, on the other hand, is aware of his skills from the beginning. He is a human killing machine whose abilities to survive are underestimated by those responsible for his training. Bourne was part of a secret government project called Treadstone. The Operation got out of hand and made the news. An ambitious agent Eric Byer (Edward Norton: Fight Club, The Incredible Hulk) decides to shut it down along with Cross’s ‘Outcome’ project, in case of another media disaster, and get rid of those involved in it, including agents and scientists. Not only Cross’s life is in danger but also Aaron’s doctor, Maria Schearing (never aging Rachel Weisz: The Deep Blue Sea, The Mummy) whose involvement in the project is hugely appreciated until the government decides to send killers after her. It is not hard to guess that Aaron and Maria’s paths will cross soon.

The film goes back to the topic of secret experiments on creating super- soldiers and super- spies, making it a believable one when Dr Maria and Cross are put in the frame of pharmacological experiment. Typical duet of a strong agent and pretty doctor, often used by Hollywood, doesn’t annoy. Characters are well developed and their motivation believable. Renner’s portrayal of Cross will definitely open doors for him to the big world of Hollywood action films.

Gilroy was able to keep a good writing style of his predecessor, Paul Greengrass (United 93, Green Zone). We have a good assembly and action. Even though the fight scenes were edited well, motorbike and car chase on crowded streets of Manila really annoyed me. It emphasised the artificiality and conventionality of the action. I also realised, after finishing watching the film, that a continuation to The Bourne Legacy is unavoidable. The film ends where it all in classic Bourne began, on a fishing boat. But this time the boat floats ‘into the sunset’, with Bourne music track in the background. I just hope that Cross and Dr Maria sail as far as possible so they wouldn’t have to participate in another sequel.

I assure you that you will enjoy watching Jeremy Renner jumping like Tarzan from one tree to another, his wrestling with a wolf and his unconventional ideas on how to make anything from nothing, sounds like MacGyver type of a guy right? I am not afraid to say that it was a good action film; however, I would not like to see a sequel or a prequel to another Bourne story, unless Matt Damon is brought back as Jason Bourne! 3 out of 5 stars.

Written by Maggie Gogler