The Bourne Legacy

The Bourne Legacy – Following the public exposure of Operation Blackbriar and Treadstone due to their failure to find Jason Bourne, the ‘Outcome’ program is launched to replace Blackbriar and all operatives are given ‘chems’, pills which enhance their physical and mental abilities. Aaron Cross is Outcome Operative #5, undergoing training in Alaska. When a potentially damaging video is discovered which could connect Treadstone to the Outcome program, those in charge decide to shut the operation down and kill all of their agents. With agents 1 – 4 dead, Aaron manages to fake his own death; he then goes on the run to stay alive and to find the doctor who prescribed his ‘chems’ as he is quickly running out.

The Bourne Legacy (2012) – Director: Tony Gilroy

Rating: 12

Running Length: 135 mins

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton

Genre: Thriller

REVIEW: ‘THE BOURNE LEGACY’

While it bears no resemblance to the Eric Van Lustbader novel of the same name, ‘The Bourne Legacy’ fits in nicely with the previous three Bourne movies. Matt Damon does not appear as Jason Bourne although there are several mentions of him throughout the film and the regular references to the previous films ensure that this fourth film continues in the same vein.

Although it’s a good movie, the main issue with ‘The Bourne Legacy’ is that it’s quite slow. There’s a lot of expositional dialogue setting up scenarios and motivations yet the movie takes a long time to actually get anywhere. While there is a lot of plot to get through in order to keep the audience aware of past events, a few more action sequences in the early stages would have been welcome to make it more interesting. Jeremy Renner is likeable as the new lead and the similarities of his situation with Jason Bourne never appear to be contrived, rather he is simply another victim of the organisation he should be able to trust. Edward Norton’s role is a little forced and he isn’t particularly convincing as a man desperate to keep the organisation safe, no matter what the cost.

Overall, ‘The Bourne Legacy’ is a likeable and entertaining movie but it is unlikely to be appealing to kids due to the slowness of the plot.

CONTENT: IS ‘THE BOURNE LEGACY’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

There are several action sequences in ‘The Bourne Legacy’ and the majority keep the blood to a minimum. One man is shot in the head after walking through a door and the wound is seen although the camera quickly cuts away. The most violent scene is perhaps when several scientists are killed in cold blood. The shooter walks into a lab and starts killing men and women who are caught completely unawares. They scream and beg for mercy but the gunman is completely emotionless, casually walking towards each person to kill them. The shooter has previously been established as quite a nice character so this change of personality could be quite distressing.

There are two instances of a character being given an injection on-screen. These are done on camera but in a very matter of fact way; they are not at all gory. A character is also seen to make a small incision into their torso in order to remove something which has been put there. There is some blood and they are seen to use long tweezers to go into the wound and remove the object. This is a little gory and the character groans in pain but they do not appear to suffer too much.

One character is killed when a missile is launched at the cabin that he is inside. While his motives have been a little suspicious, he has been seen to be quite friendly and his death may be a little surprising. Another character is killed when the vehicle he is on crashes into a large post. He is seen to fly into the air and flip over several times before hitting the ground. While previous moments like this have generally been cut away from, this graphic crash is quite shocking and lasts several seconds.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘THE BOURNE LEGACY’ FOR KIDS?

‘The Bourne Legacy’ is a good thriller which is bound to be enjoyed by anyone who has been a fan of the previous three ‘Bourne’ movies. Unfortunately the plodding storyline makes it a little boring and it is unlikely to be enjoyed by kids who could lose interest during the long periods of time when there is no action. We feel that ‘The Bourne Legacy’ will be most appropriate for kids aged 10 and over. Please be aware that the violence, while not being particularly gory, is very adult in nature and may be distressing for children who are sensitive to violence.

• Violence: 3/5 (most of the violence is from shootings which do not show too much blood. Some bodies are seen with their eyes open but these are not too gratuitous. A wolf, which is about to attack a character, is caught in a trap and struggles aggressively to get free. When it does get free, it is blown up by a missile. When this happens, the camera focuses on the character and an explosion is seen in the background; another character says ‘target destroyed’)
• Emotional Distress: 0/5
• Fear Factor: 3/5 (the massacre in the science lab is likely to be very distressing for younger children and another scene, which is quite drawn out, where several agents suddenly attack another character could be a little shocking)
• Sexual Content: 0/5
• Bad Language: 3/5 (infrequent mild and moderate cursing and blasphemy throughout)
• Dialogue: 2/5 (several mentions of people being murdered and assassins being employed to kill people)  
• Other notes: Deals with themes of betrayal, fighting for survival, using intelligence as well as strength to fight back, not being able to trust the people who have recruited you.

Words by Laura Record

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