Tuesday, February 27, 2018

MOVIE DIALOG OF THE DAY ― THE BOURNE LEGACY (2012)

Connection with the previous post (MI: ROUGE NATION): Jeremy Renner co-starred in both films

RATINGS
: IMDB ― 6.7/10, Rotten Tomatoes ― 56%, ME ― 80%




Dr. Marta Shearing: Are we lost?
Aaron Cross: No, I was just looking at our options.
Dr. Marta Shearing: Oh, I was kinda hoping we were lost.

Rachael Weisz as Dr. Marta Shearing and Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross 

Trivia (From IMDB):

When asked about his most difficult scene, Jeremy Renner revealed that it was the motorcycle ride with Rachel Weisz behind him in Manila, because he was responsible for the two of them. At the press conference of the film, Weisz was asked about this particular stunt, "How was it to ride on a motorcycle through Manila with Jeremy Renner?" and she said that "It was really terrifying! Jeremy never told me when we were in Manila, but that was the scariest stunt for him because he was responsible for my life. He didn't tell me that in Manila, thank god, because I would have been like, 'Oh, my god!' I just had to surrender and hold on. I didn't have to act. It just was terrifying".

Daniel Craig visited his wife Rachel Weisz during their shoot in Manila. Producer Frank Marshall was glad to see them together, saying: "It was pretty cool to have James Bond on the 'Bourne' set with Aaron Cross. We had a great time. It was really fun."

Matt Damon told The Playlist he could not see his character and the character played by Jeremy Renner being in a movie together.

Jeremy Renner doesn't say a word until 15 minutes and 7 seconds into the film.

Before this movie was seriously considered, director Paul Greengrass (who helmed two earlier installments of this series) jokingly suggested to make a fourth Bourne movie called "The Bourne Redundancy".

The location of Aaron Cross at the wilderness outpost as seen on the display at Drone Command is 61 48 28.54 -142 49 06.17 (or 61.632507,-142.968292). This is in the Wrangell-St.Elias National Park and Preserve in Chitina Alaska, approximately half way between the peaks of Regal Mountain and Presidents Chair at an altitude of 8900 feet.

At 135 minutes, this is the longest of all Bourne films.

Excluding archive footage from previous films, Joan Allen, Scott Glenn, Albert Finney and David Strathairn all appear in only one scene each.

Taylor Kitsch, Shia LaBeouf, Adam Brody, Garrett Hedlund, Luke Evans, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Hartnett, Tobey Maguire, Alex Pettyfer, Dominic Cooper, Michael Fassbender, Kellan Lutz, Benjamin Walker, Erryn Arkin, Paul Dano, Joel Edgerton, Oscar Isaac, Logan Marshall-Green and Michael Pitt were considered for the role of Aaron Cross. Isaac was eventually cast in the different role as Outcome #3.

When leaving the mountain refuge Aaron Cross says that he will head "for the Nest". In the Avenger movies the Nest is the place of choice by Hawkeye, the archer played by Renner.

Originally a fourth installment for Jason Bourne was planned. However, Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass didn't like the script, Paul Greengrass didn't want to return as director and Damon would've returned if only Paul would return as director. After that, Tony Gilroywould re-work the script into a Bourne spin-off, now released as "The Bourne Legacy".

When Aaron and Marta are flying over seas, stock footage of the oceanic plane from Executive Decision (1996) is used.

The character Jason Bourne alias David Webb from three novels by Robert Ludlum was licensed out to Eric Van Lustbader to continue the life and adventures of that character, starting with The Bourne Legacy. However, as with most films in this series, this movie is an original screenplay using only the title of that novel.

Matt Damon as Jason Bourne has a photographic cameo twice in the film in order to help establish this film as part of the series. First in the beginning of the film, when the agency is talking about what they're going to do as Bourne is still at large and a file of Bourne is seen with Damon's picture with it. The last time is just before Cross and Shearing are in an airport and Cross is watching the news and Bourne's picture comes up when the News Anchor mentions his name.

The films' story-line parallels' the events of both The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) as the Blackbriar project instituted at the end of the original film was fully activated even as the CIA was still on the hunt for Jason Bourne.

In the scene where Edward Norton's character learns that the "Outcome" who survived the cabin drone attack was Aaron Cross, Jeremy Renner's character and recognizes the name without surprise. This is because Norton was Renner's Commanding Officer in Iraq in 2003 and was the one who recruited him for the Blackbriar Project which explains the scene of his "death" shown on the Fallen Heroes website he shows to Weisz. The Blu-Ray and DVD feature these scenes that were cut out of the film.

Shipped to theaters under the code name "Marcher". This was also the fake title filming took place under.

(at around 17 mins) The yellow note seen pinned to the shelf in the cabin at the wilderness outpost reads "*NEW* LATRINE Tom (N) leave the shovel there ffs. and the bears use it too, heads up--"

Blake Lively, Milla Jovovich, Kristin Kreuk, Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Beckinsale, Kate Mara, Kate Bosworth, Diane Kruger, Eliza Dushku, Elizabeth Olsen, Michelle Monaghan and Sarah Michelle Gellar were considered for the role of Marta Shearing.

The first Bourne film not shot by cinematographer Oliver Wood.

When Dr. Marta Shearing explains the origins of viral engineering she refers to a 1985 incident at a US Army base named Fort Detrick. Fort Detrick is an actual US Army base and, during the early Cold War, was the home of the US's biological weapons program until then President Nixon closed down the program in 1969.

By the end of the film, at the last shot, Aaron and Marta are on board a small ship, and that scene was shot in Palawan, the Philippines. Local newspaper The Philippine Star reports that Rachel Weisz was so awed by the beauty of the place that she declared that she could live in Palawan forever. The rest of the cast also expressed their amazement at being in such an exotically beautiful spot.

Both Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) characters share similar traits to one another. Both were recruited to volunteer for Treadstone and Blackbriar projects. Both were military soldiers presumed dead. Both share similar military training and expertise in weapons and martial arts. Both had a love interest (Bourne/Nicky Parsons) and (Cross/Martha Shearing, possibly). Both are being chased and pursed by the CIA by their former mentors/recruiters (Chris Cooper's Alexander Conklin for Jason Bourne and Edward Norton's Eric Byer for Aaron Cross). The major differences is that Aaron Cross knew his real identity as he had revealed it to Rachel Weisz's Shearing character midway through the film. Damon's Bourne doesn't find out who he really is until the end of The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). Cross also remembers his family even-though it's revealed somewhat vaguely during his conversation with Martha Shearing and it is not known who if Bourne has or had a family and that maybe revealed in Jason Bourne. Cross is a genetically enhanced soldier both physically and IQ wise and we do not know if Bourne was also enhanced or just a natural, physical soldier without enhancement.

Composer John Powell composed the music for the first three Bourne films as the regular composer for both Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass. James Newton Howard, Tony Gilroy's regular composer was hired to write the music for this film. Howard's music is almost stylistically and loosely based on Powell's work on the original Bourne films with his own musical voice.

In the begining a pack of wolves are shown attacking an elk, however the only Elk in Alaska are limited to a few Islands, and not near where Cross was supposed to be, i.e. near Wrangell-St. Elias Park.

The only Bourne film in which Marie Kreutz is neither featured nor referenced in any way. Nicky Parsons isn't mentioned either nor she appears in the movie.

Edward Norton, Scott Glenn and Joan Allen have all appeared in films featuring the character Hannibal Lecter. Allen was in Manhunter (1986), as was Brian Cox who appeared in the first two films of this series. Glenn appeared in The Silence of the Lambs(1991), and Norton appeared in Red Dragon (2002).

It was revealed that Aaron Cross is one of nine outcomes (gentitically enhanced) soldiers that participated in Project Blackbriar. The fate of the others is explained somewhat vaguely by Jeremy Renner to Rachel Weisz in the scene where he reveals his real identity as most of them either viraled out of their medication or were killed in the beginning of the film (including Outcome-3 played by Oscar Isaac) at the same time during the events of The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) with Edward Norton's character giving the orders to shut down the project.

Some members of the cast have appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe:

- Jeremy Renner played Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016)).

- Scott Glenn played Stick (Daredevil (2015)).

- Edward Norton played Bruce Banner/Hulk (The Incredible Hulk (2008)).

- Corey Stoll played Darren Cross/Yellowjacket (Ant-Man (2015)).

Edward Norton and Jeremy Renner are alumni of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Norton starred in The Incredible Hulk (2008) and Renner played Hawkeye in Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Captain America: Civil War.

Stacy Keach & Edward Norton also appeared together in American History X (1998).
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This is the fourth collaboration between Writer/Director Tony Gilroy and Composer James Newton Howard. The other films include Michael Clayton (2007) (which they both received Oscar nominations), Duplicity (2004), The Devil's Advocate (1997) (which he co-wrote the screenplay) and this film. Howard also composed the music for Nightcrawler (2014), which was written and directed by Dan Gilroy, who co-wrote this movie with Tony Gilroyhis brother and was also the producer of the film.

Jonathan Eusebio is the Fight Coordinator and the Fighting Style is FMA Kali Eskrima and Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do.

The items that were used by Aaron Cross to make the passport/ID are: A disposable camera, a large magnifying glass, a soldering iron, bubble gum, a picture of Martha Shearing and of course, an empty or another person's passport.

When Aaron Cross arrives in Chicago, he finds the car containing passports, ID's (both with different names/aliases), money and a gun in the inside panel of the car door. This is almost identical to The Bourne Identity (2002) where Matt Damon goes to the bank to retrieve the safety deposit box that also contains several different passports, ID's (both with different names/aliases), money and a gun as well.

The first three titles in this series - The Bourne Identity (2002), The Bourne Supremacy(2004), and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) - follow each other in alphabetical order. This title "The Bourne Legacy" spoils that pattern.

When Jeremy Renner tells Rachel Weisz in the car if she knew his name after she sees him while he was apart of the Blackbriar Project, 13 times and doesn't know it. However, when goes to rescue her at her house before they were going to killer, she does recognize him. This is a similar reference to Matt Damon and Julia Stiles characters from the Bourne series in which they really don't connect until The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), where it was revealed that they may have had a relationship together before Damon became Bourne.

Before the CIA's officials arrive at Dr. Marta's house, a page in her drawer is seen as she is packing up with "Michael John" written on it in Arabic/ Urdu transcript.

This was Jeremy Renner's second box office hit film of 2012 which also included The Avengers (2012), released in the same summer.

The main character's code name is "Aaron Cross." Jason Bourne's German girlfriend in The Bourne Identity is Marie Kreutz. Kreutz is the German word for "cross."

Zeljko Ivanek who plays the lab technician who goes berserk in the lab where Rachel Weisz barely escapes, may have been a member of the Blackbriar project as either a sleeper agent or one of the later Outcomes and this is inferred when Renner tells Weisz in the car his own reasons why he went crazy inside the lab to eliminate all traces of the Project after it was ordered to be terminated early in the film by Edward Norton's character.
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Elizabeth Marvel and Corey Stoll have both starred in House of Cards (2013).

The film was edited by John Gilroy, Tony Gilroy's brother who with their other brother, Dan, co-wrote the screenplay to this film and Tony co-produced and directed this film. This is the third film that he has edited for Tony Gilroy with the others being Michael Clayton (2007), Duplicity (2004) and this one. He would also edit, Nightcrawler (2014) which was written and directed by Dan Gilroy and produced by Tony Gilroy.

This is the second film where Rachel Weisz plays a doctor involved in a scientific research project. The other film was Chain Reaction (1996) co-starring Keanu Reeves, where she plays a physicist trying to help Reeves create free energy out of water and in this film, she's a geneticist who doesn't know that she's using germs and chemicals to enhance U.S. soldiers for a top secret project (Project Blackbriar).

Donna Murphy, Dennis Boutsikaris, Zeljko Ivanek, Robert Prescott, Tom Riis Farrell and Corey Stoll all appeared on the show, Law & Order (1990) in various points in both the original series or one of it's spin-offs (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001)). Stoll appeared on the short lived Law & Order: LA (2010) as one of the shows' main leads. Ivanek appeared in a few episodes of the show as part of a crossover episode with the series, Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) as well as a few episodes as another character.

Spoilers ― 


At the climax of this movie, Noah Vosen lies to the U.S. Senate that Operation Blackbriar was activated solely to track down and hunt Jason Bourne. This would be inconsistent with Abbott's statement to the Senate Oversight Committee in The Bourne Identity(2002) that the purpose of Blackbriar was to act as a joint communications program for the Department of Defense. If one looks closely in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), when Bourne goes to steal the classified files from Vosen's office, one of the files reads that Blackbriar was changed from a communications program to a CIA/NSA covert operation to track down Jason Bourne, making the cover up for Blackbriar's true purpose plausible.

The message scrawled on the mirror in the hotel room, 'No More', is an anagram of Marta's traveling name, 'Monroe'.

This is the second time Oscar Isaac has played a character who has something to do with the CIA and gets killed within the first 30 minutes and his death is caused by an explosion. The first time being Body of Lies (2008).

Aaron Cross' real name is Ptv. Kenneth J. Kitsom and stationed in Iraq who presumably died in 2003 during the events of both The Bourne Identity (2002) and The Bourne Supremacy (2004). The letter J. is short for "James".
The fake names that Aaron Cross creates for him and Dr. Shearing are Karl Brundage and June Monroe, respectively.

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