The Bourne Ultimatum was initially conceived as the closing chapter of a trilogy. As Scream and Indiana Jones will tell you, it’s not over if we can crank out another film. Even if the lead actor and director don’t return, that won’t stop Hollywood from doing everything possible to rake in as much cash as possible. Enter The Bourne Legacy, starring Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz.
Like Ultimatum, this film takes place over the same period as Supremacy for a good portion of its film. This effect is carefully achieved by framing several scenes from Ultimatum during the unfolding action of Legacy, revealing when certain plot points unfold. At this point, the CIA abandoned Blackbriar as its primary tool and moved on to another one: Outcome. Instead of conditioning its operatives behaviorally, the CIA focused on altering their chemical composition through pharmaceuticals. One pill was designed to enhance their cognitive ability, while another was designed to enhance their physical capabilities, creating the perfect operatives for long-term undercover work and assassination missions. The name is, in effect, synergistic with its goals. These operations will achieve a particular outcome.
Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) is the new main lead character, one of Outcome’s many operatives. Throughout the film, we discover why he accepted the offer to join Outcome. He felt he didn’t have anything to offer the world besides his life, so he joined the Army. Operation Outcome dramatically increased his intellect and ability to operate for the United States. Still, we also see he did not participate in the program as directed. His lack of discipline is cited as the main reason he is the problem child of Outcome, but it also saves his life when push comes to shove. By the time Noah Vosen tries and fails to capture Bourne, another figure is pulled in by Ezra Kramer to handle the rest of the CIA’s dirty laundry: Eric Byer (Edward Norton).
Byer is the Director of the National Research Assay Group, a think tank for the Department of Defense that has moved beyond the hammer approach to cultivate a series of scalpels for more delicate and long-term operations. As the damage from Simon Ross’ assassination, Pamela Landy’s investigation, Jason Bourne’s interference, and subsequent disappearance, Byer decides to burn Outcome to the ground. All of this is because of one picture (and several videos). In it are Dr. Albert Hirsch and Dr. Dan Hillcott, the medical directors of Treadstone and Outcome, respectively. By linking them, however negligibly, Outcome is tainted and unsalvageable, so Byer decides to close up shop.
Operation Outcome, like Treadstone and, presumably, Blackbriar before it, is divided into multiple factions to keep the operation compartmentalized. We meet four operatives in addition to Aaron Cross (played by Adi Hanash, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Kim, and Robert Christopher Riley). They are Outcome 1, 3, 4, and 6 respectively). Of the Outcome agents, we know that there were nine in total, with 7, 8, and 9 having died before the film even began and Outcome 2 not appearing in the movie at all. We also have a team of research scientists who administer tests on the participants, allowing the pharmaceuticals to be better fine-tuned over time – which is how the CIA opts to eliminate three of the operatives that they have immediate access to.
Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) is the most important of these scientists, as she plays the co-lead alongside Aaron Cross.
Additionally, we have Donald Foite (Željko Ivanek), who is tasked with eliminating the research side when Byer sends the kill order. Finally, there is Sterisyn-Morlanta as a whole, which is led by Terrence Ward (Dennis Boutsikaris), the pharmaceutical company at the center of it all and the one who is most closely associated with the CIA – not to mention the only one they seem keen on keeping alive.
By the time they come for Aaron, the fallout of Pamela Landy leaking the CIA’s efforts with Blackbriar and Treadstone seemed to cost her everything while leaving Noah Vosen practically unscathed. Yet, this plays out in the background while the story focuses on Aaron’s mission to stay alive. With Marta being the only survivor of her team, the CIA decides to launch a second attempt on her life while she is just trying to move on. This is Legacy’s contribution to the overzealous CIA working to silence those who probably wouldn’t have gotten in their way if they had left good enough alone.
True, Aaron makes it to her house because he sees a report on the workplace shooting. The convenient timing of his arrival spares her life and costs the CIA a team of trained, loyal operatives.
Still, Marta is far too traumatized by everything going on to think about talking to the press about what might have happened.
In effect, their decision to try and kill her a second time only served to bind her closer to Aaron, as he became her only means of survival.
The Bourne Legacy wants to ensure it ties as closely to the preceding three films without ever showing Jason Bourne. This decision stems from the ambiguous ending of Ultimatum, where it is not clear one way or the other if Jason has survived his encounter with Vosen on the rooftop. While they don’t believe he’s dead, Legacy takes its time to weave that plot line through Aaron’s story. This is most evident when Aaron reaches the cabin where Outcome 3 (Oscar Isaac) has been left after he broke the rules. In it, we find Jason’s name scratched into the wood, indicating that Outcome was more interconnected with Treadstone than Byer perhaps realized. Each program is clearly an iteration of Treadstone, born out of a necessity to protect the homeland and gather critical intelligence but intermixed with the darkest methods and desires. With this knowledge, Byer’s decision to eliminate any and all traces of Outcome becomes slightly more reasonable (from his perspective).
Working under Eric Byer are Dita Mandy (Donna Murphy), Arthur Ingram (Michael Chernus), and Zev Vendel (Corey Stoll). They are Byer’s chief supporters, who help him with his quick investigation into how deeply the problem has spread. Vendel, for his part, is interested in Bourne during the portions of the film that take place during Ultimatum, as he can do what he does without the medication they utilize for Outcome. Then, just to drive the point home that Eric Byer and his group are no different than Ward Abbott and Noah Vosen, the curtain is pulled back to reveal that they have moved onto a new program, LARX. Byer dispatches LARX-3 (Louis Ozawa Changchien) to hunt down Aaron and Marta when the pair become more than just a little bit of a nuisance, giving them more trouble than any threat before.
The Bourne Legacy acts as a spinoff to the main series. If not for Jason Bourne, it would have qualified as an epilogue to the main series by further revealing how much of a threat the CIA is within the world where the Bourne series is set. With its two leads, it draws on the best parts of Identity and Ultimatum, while the antagonists meld together what made Abbott and Vosen such dastardly villains – capable, effective, and seemingly undefeatable. On its own, it is an interesting story, much like the television series Treadstone. It serves to flesh out the world beyond Jason Bourne, its strongest selling point. Perhaps there will come a day when Jason Bourne and Aaron Cross meet. One can always dream.
Lloydd Marshall Books 