We’re eased into the Ultimatum tie-in via cameos of Albert Finney, Scott Glenn, David Strathairn, and Joan Allen, but when the dialogue switches to “chems,” “blues,” “greens,” and “program meds,” the lessons in human genomes prove tiresome. Then, the plot goes all-in on the super-soldier serum. Legacy wants to stay in that wheelhouse, but its plot is much pulpier: an intelligence agency strong-arm relentlessly clears house by hunting down agents, all in the name of institutional self-preservation. One of the elements that made the franchise’s previous film Ultimatum so thematically gripping was its commentary on post-9/11 mass surveillance. Gilroy sells the plausibility of Jason Bourne being the “tip of the iceberg,” pulling the curtain beyond Treadstone and revealing a bigger shadowy world that can turn on you any second. The first 30 minutes of Legacy cleverly overlap with The Bourne Ultimatum. Bourne was the superspy Cross is the super soldier, part of a top-secret program called “Outcome.” Gilroy, who wrote the Bourne trilogy, retains his penmanship for gray areas and G-man conspiracies. Perhaps in an attempted solution to the two-leading-men-one-franchise balancing act, director Tony Gilroy feels the need to juice up the premise. In doing so, the film suffers a case of stolen Bourne identity - a back-and-forth between sequel and spinoff that never finds its footing. It doesn’t help that, in an effort to smooth the narrative transition, Damon’s photo scores screen time in Legacy on top of numerous name-drops. But it’s difficult to have two leading men as the face of one franchise. Bourne has gone up against other operatives played by Clive Owen and Karl Urban. Not as forced as, say, a hard drive containing the identities of other superheroes. “There was never just one.” Admittedly, the tagline is an interesting way to expand the world. Unfortunately, it comes about two acts too late. This scene finally articulates the difference between the two franchise protagonists. Bourne may be more efficient, but Cross can smile his way through lobby security before anybody notices something is up. The difference with Aaron Cross is he’s much better with words than stoic Bourne could ever be. We’ve seen him swiftly beat his way out of corners three times prior. We know how Jason Bourne would handle the situation.
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