Down And Dirty In Intel
World-Jeremy Renner’s “The Bourne Legacy” (2012)-A Film Review
DVD Review
By Seth Garth
The Bourne Legacy,
starring Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, 2012
Funny how changes of
regime as has happened here at this site (and at the on-line American Film Gazette) recently with the
departure of Allan Jackson as site manager to parts unknown, although rumor has
it that he is either in retirement or exile out in Utah, after a fierce
internal fight and the installation of Greg Green, formerly of American Film Gazette, in that position.
Since Greg’s takeover of the day to day operations he has assigned various
writers, young the ones who brought him to power and old who for the most part
stood by Allan, including me, many more movie reviews than Allan who was
partial to music and book reviews ever did. Everybody was amazed when we found
out that the AFG had in its long
existence in hard copy and on-line published reviews of over forty thousand
films as against the roughly fifteen hundred that had been posted under the
deposed Jackson regime.
But that is not the main
point since one would expect AFG as a
specialty publication to have many more film reviews as here under Allan, who
whatever our old-time friendship, really limited the types of films that he
would assign or people would suggest. I think in Allan’s heart of hearts he
would have been happy if all the films assigned or suggested were
straight-documentaries. Since the purge he has been in secluded exile out in
Utah so I don’t know that preference for sure but that is my take. Whatever his
wish Allan most certainly would not as Greg Green has done assign zombie films,
those super-hero flicks like Superman
and Batman from some ill-spent
childhoods that kids these days flock to in droves. Allan did not particularly
like reviews of films after about 1952 (or music after about 1970) which was
one of the reasons for the revolt of the “Young Turks” who were stymied in
their efforts to write stuff they knew or cared about and not the leavings of
guys like me from the old days (old in time and age here and in our interests
mostly centered on the 1960s and the immediate aftermath).
Allan would have
hollered bloody murder if he knew that Greg had assigned writers, young and
old, to do such things as spy thrillers like the James Bond series now getting
a hard work-out at this site. Would have flipped out and maybe needed
hospitalization if he knew that Greg was passing out assignments like the film
under review The Bourne Legacy.
Although he would have given the Robert Ludlum Bourne novel series that this film is based on although not written
by him a go ahead no problem. Alan’s main idea, main political idea was not to
encourage belief in the omnipresent spy agencies from MI5-MI6 to CIA and NSA
and whatever else the governments of the world have established to decrease
enormously our privacy, our “right” to be left alone. That was why he always
highlighted and profiled whistle-blower cases like those of the heroic and now
released from jail Chelsea Manning and as of early 2018 the still Russia-exiled
Edward Snowden.
Initially before he
became site manager and was just in charge or the day to day operation Greg had
assigned young writer Lance Lawrence to do the trilogy of Bourne movies
starring Matt Damon who created the role and made the most of it. Lance,
however, was among the leaders of the now emergent “Young Turks” who gutted
Allan and sent him into something like a no-name non-person land showing that
even young people who can retrace history a bit resembles nothing so much as
Uncle Joe Stalin trying to wipe out the name Leon Trotsky from the annals of
the Russian Revolution when he won the internal battle inside the Bolshevik
Party. So Lance’s series took a back seat. Meanwhile Greg had assigned me to
this film. Since it does not depend either on the Jason Bourne character or
Matt Damon as actor Greg decided that I should post this now.
Although this version of
the Bourne saga starts a bit slowly by the time it moves into gear about a
third of the way through the movie it is another classic spy-thriller.
Spy-thriller of the Bourne type meaning that the CIA (and its’ even more
secretive sub-divisions in that murky shadow world) had no problem working very
close to the Nuremburg Nazi –trial conviction standards in attempting to create
genetically-enhanced humans who were
nothing, literally nothing, but effective killing machines to be placed
wherever the CIA chieftains and their minions deem necessary. Scary thought. As
long as the drug regime held out. Certainly their creature Arron Cross, played
by Jeremy Renner, was built for that task. That, what do they call such actions
now down in Washington-deep state, yes, deep state work which all the
conspiracy theorists, pro and amateur, live to chatter in cyberspace about
while trolling along in their lives.
But what if things go
wrong. No, not wrong with the high tech experiments that is easy enough just
waste your no-name agents, but when such programs see the light of day, get
known about outside the inner circle. That is Arron Cross’ problem from about
minute one once the spook bureaucrats decided to pull the plug on all the nefarious
operations so they could, something out of the Vietnam War terminology, have
plausible deniability (which in the end they rammed down some Senate
sub-committee’s throat.) So the chase is on, the elusive and apparently too
well trained killer, Aaron, becomes the subject of a massive manhunt to kill him
and ask questions later. That is the plan of chief liquidator ex Col. Byer,
played by Edward Norton, in any case and while as we know he will not be
successful against the free spirit Cross (after his cold turkey from his jones
on those green and blue pills) he is as determined as any real CIA/NSA
bureaucrat to make the problem go away.
Cross is up to the task,
more than up to the task but as a rogue, as a renegade he has lost access to
the genetic pills which give him his strength and intelligence. In desperation
he seeks out one of his handlers, a doctor, Doctor Shearing, who may have some
pills. This Doctor Shearing though is a pure researcher so no drugs. Moreover
dear Mister Byer is intent on covering all tracks from agents to researchers and
so she must be eliminated. Once Cross makes contact with the good doctor,
played by fetching Rachel Weisz who almost anybody would go to great efforts
protect so he is no fool moving mountains to aid her escape the rest of the
film centers on getting him those damn drugs (creating an international chase
to Manila) and avoiding almost every minute all the bad guys, crooks, agents
and cops that Byer and company can throw at him and her.
Kicking, jumping,
hard-riding you name it to get out of the bullseye on his back. After the
murder, mayhem and frenzy settle down in their favor Cross and the Doc “disappear.”
End of story-maybe.
