Movie Review: The Bourne Legacy

Photo courtesy of Solar Entertainment Corp.

"Jason Bourne was only the tip of the iceberg." - The Bourne Legacy(film).

Story: Bourne spinoff story of another covert operative named Aaron Cross.

Review: This separate story is not one of Robert Ludlum's stories. Ludlum died 2001 but he was able to enticed fans of his conspiracy theory stories. Ludlum was a pioneer in his own brand of book titles. He uses noun adjuncts to give an idea of the story. For example: Bourne Identity, Holcroft Covenant etc.

But Jason Bourne is the bestselling character in all Ludlum books. The Bourne Identity was first published in 1980 and followed by the sequels, Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum. Before Matt Damon, Jason Bourne was first played by Richard Chamberlain in a Bourne Identity miniseries back in 1988. Eric Van Lustbader was able to continue Ludlum's Bourne series starting with Bourne Legacy and currently has six more books.

When a film adaptation of The Bourne Legacy was first discussed , Matt Damon, Julia Stiles and Joan Allen was already interested. Unfortunately, Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass was not interested in directing and Matt Damon won't make the film unless Greengrass directs it. It falls on the hands of Tony Gilroy to write a screenplay and direct a new story based on the Bourne trilogy.

The new story expands the Bourne trilogy and it also parallels the same timeline that happened in the Bourne trilogy. The continuity of this new story is also validated by the appearance of some actors that was also in The Bourne trilogy.

Enter Aaron Cross. Another covert operative. Unlike Bourne, he has different circumstance that involves Operation: Treadstone and it reveals more. Cross and other operatives were able to demonstrate some fighting skills and ingenuity like Bourne. During the filming on location here in Philippines, I was fortunate to see the actors near San Andres market along Leveriza but the security was tight about taking pictures specially when Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz was doing the scenes.

The story may be related to Bourne and its a separate story but it should be noted that the Bourne trilogy should be a reference source to understand it. I like how Tony Gilroy did the action scenes and how the story progressed but I couldn't see the same intensity I experience while watching the Bourne trilogy. As for the title, it would be better if they didn't use Bourne but it can mention that it is a Bourne spinoff. They could use another noun adjunct.

Tony Gilroy mentioned that Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass can go back eventually if they decided to give Jason Bourne another chance to appear again. The Bourne Legacy opens in cinemas August 8 and is released and distributed by Solar Entertainment Corp.