The Bourne Legacy (2012)

To the naked eye--or to the unabashed action-adventure enthusiast--The Bourne Legacy (2012) looks like exactly that--an action-adventure film. It strings together exciting motorcycle chases, spy versus spy scenes, explosives, combustion, state-of-the-art weapons, and, of course, hand-to-hand combat. Jeremy Renner does justice to the Bourne Legacy, even if he never romances “the girl.” “The girl,” in this case, is the doctor (Rachel Weisz) who manipulated his genes and transformed him into a super-smart spy who can literally jump over mountains and perform feats that are ordinarily reserved for superheroes from outer space.  This secret genetic experiment opens a window into the future, even if the film is science fiction and pure fantasy at present.

Gene therapy may be in its infancy at present, and the failures still seem more common than the successes. Yet advances in neuroscience are progressing at a fast pace, even though relatively few of those advances have current clinical applications. One wonders how soon medicine will offer gene transplants that increase intelligence, or at least slow down the loss of intelligence, as happens in dementia. This seemingly superficial film forces us to ask questions about the distinction between pure cosmetic neuropsychiatry and the treatment of genuine disease states. As we watch Renner’s character inject himself with drugs, to prevent loss of his artificially acquired abilities, we can’t help but compare this act with controversial trends in stimulant use and abuse on highly competitive Ivy League campuses, as chronicled by the NY Times and elsewhere. The future is now, as they say.