I have no idea where this Bourne franchise is headed.
After all, how can you make a “Bourne” movie without Jason Bourne in it?
Matt Damon’s character is only mentioned in passing, but he is mentioned. So, perhaps Bourne and this new character, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), could work together in a future covert capacity? Maybe.
For now, the CIA is in panic mode over its numerous black op squads and decides it needs to cut back on those programs. Exactly why is never clear. I mean, who cares if Congress finds out the CIA has created these chemically altered superagents? If the soldiers entered the programs willingly, shouldn’t it be their call whether they stay in them or not?
However, the serious-faced suits pulling the strings, including Edward Norton and Stacy Keach, decide the whole thing needs to be shut down. Which means everyone associated with the programs has to be taken out? What a waste of assets — not to mention a double-cross against some highly trained individuals.
Here’s where we meet Aaron, who is training in Alaska, playing with some hungry wolves and frolicking through the snow-topped mountains. A lesser man would have curled up into a frozen ball and given up. Cross treats it like a Club Med vacation.
He gets the details of the new CIA’s “retirement” plan and he’s not too happy about it, so he goes back to a secret lab, where he gets his super “chems” and asks the nice lady doctor there (Rachel Weisz)” What seems to be the problem?
The two of them end up on the run from an entire agency anxious to offer them their golden parachutes — minus the cords.
It becomes a pretty intriguing cat-and-mouse game, which nearly rivals the work of Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” without the high-wire act.
Renner is a bit more wild-eyed than Cruise, or even Matt Damon, for that matter. He has a raw strength that makes him a perfect killing machine, but he lacks the others’ charisma, which may not draw the bigger crowds.
But if you’re looking for a top-notch action spy thriller, this is it.
Who knows where the Bourne saga goes from here? Just know that Renner and company do nothing to shame it in any way.