Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Donna Murphy, Stacy Keach, Dennis Boutsikaris, Zeljko Ivanek

By Derrick Bang

Enterprise film critic

Any doubts about the Bourne film series surviving Matt Damon’s departure can be laid to rest; replacement star Jeremy Renner capably opens a new chapter in Robert Ludlum’s popular franchise.

Although it’s perhaps not the chapter fans were expecting.

Ludlum, who died in 2001, wrote the three books made into the film trilogy that featured Damon between ’02 and ’07. Ludlum’s estate sanctioned Jason Bourne’s literary revival in an ongoing series of sequels by the prolific Eric Van Lustbader, who thus far has written seven more, starting with 2004’s “The Bourne Legacy.”

But although this new film shares the same title, that’s all it shares. Like most latter-day James Bond films, which also borrowed Ian Fleming’s book and short story titles — and nothing else — director/co-scripter Tony Gilroy concocted an entirely new narrative suggested by Ludlum’s conspiracy-laden premise.

And rather than tagging a new actor to play Jason Bourne — thus cleverly leaving the door open for Damon’s return, at some future point — Renner is introduced as Aaron Cross, one of several “sidebar assets” in the U.S. black ops agency’s clandestine Treadstone project.

Gilroy scripted all three of Damon’s “Bourne” films; he also wrote and directed the sleekly sinister George Clooney vehicle, “Michael Clayton,” and had fun riffing on industrial espionage with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, in 2009’s “Duplicity.” So it’s safe to say that Gilroy knows the territory.

Gilroy wisely takes his time with the first act of this new film, introducing Cross during an extreme survival training session in the Alaskan wilderness. Details are sketchy, aside from the same heightened senses and reflexes that characterized Bourne; Cross also carefully maintains a daily regimen of pills — one blue, one green — that are safeguarded in a container worn around his neck.

Back in D.C., high-level spook Eric Byer (Edward Norton) frets over the public appearance of Dr. Albert Hirsch (Albert Finney), recognized from the previous film in this series. Similarly, Pam Landy (Joan Allen), Jason Bourne’s former handler, has threatened to go public with Treadstone’s seamier details.

Feeling that they have no choice, Byer and fellow conspirator Mark Turso (Stacy Keach) decide to shut down Treadstone and its half-dozen human assets, despite their highly effective work in various world hot spots. And in this realm of unsupervised behavior, “shutting down” has lethal ramifications for said assets.

Rather reprehensibly, the soulless Byer — quickly established as this story’s uber-villain — goes for total shutdown, which also means eliminating all scientists and medical researchers working to produce those little blue and green pills, in the concealed lab of a Maryland pharma-giant dubbed Candent.

Byer’s scheme isn’t entirely successful; one top-security researcher, Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz), survives and withdraws, shaken, to the comfort of her magnificently dilapidated, three-story fixer-upper mansion in the Maryland woods. Shearing also knows Cross, but only as a man dubbed “Patient No. 5” who routinely submitted to blood panels and full medical work-ups numerous times, during the previous few years.

More to the point, Cross remembers Shearing; when everything goes pear-shaped, she becomes the one person who might be able to help him stay alive — and properly medicated — long enough to figure out what the hell is going on.

Assuming she lives that long.

Although you’ve just read a fairly straightforward précis of Gilroy’s narrative set-up, these details don’t arrive anywhere near as neatly in the film. Indeed, Gilroy and co-scripter Dan Gilroy (an older brother) go out of their way to deliver crucial details through flashbacks, confusing cross-cutting and just plain obfuscation. It could be argued that the screenwriters try too hard to be obtuse, relying overmuch on terse, heated and vaguely worded arguments between Byer, Turso and Cadent CEO Terrence Ward (Dennis Boutsikaris).

It’s difficult to get emotionally involved with the “crisis,” early on, when we haven’t the slightest idea what these guys are quarrelling about.

At the same time, though, Tony Gilroy’s leisurely pace allows us plenty of time to get inside Cross’ head. Like Bourne before him — whom he doesn’t know — Cross had a former life and career before being co-opted by Byer into this soul-deadening black-ops existence. Although properly grim and implacable when necessary, Renner also grants Cross gentler characteristics: curiosity, wary anxiety, compassion and a strong moral compass that Byer definitely wouldn’t admire.

Renner looks friendly, and his Aaron Cross believably slides from companionable smiles to lightning-quick lethal action in the blink of an eye. Renner is totally convincing, and when his expression turns grim, the results aren’t the slightest bit surprising. Indeed, we come to anticipate that transformation.

Unlike so many directors who front-load their action scenes and then have nowhere to go — I’m looking at you, “Total Recall” — Gilroy understands the effective art of building to a suspenseful climax. We learn much about Cross’ capabilities during the extended Alaskan sojourn, but these are hardly melees; his hand-to-hand skills don’t come into play until he returns to civilization. Cross doesn’t fully explode until he resourcefully finds his way to Shearing’s Maryland home, at which point Gilroy kicks his film into a higher gear.

But even this proves to be only an intermediate phase. Gilroy, editor John Gilroy (a younger brother) and stunt coordinator Dan Bradley throw everything into the climactic third act, which opens with a rooftop pursuit and builds to a jaw-dropping motorcycle chase.

Weisz is note-perfect as a lab rat wholly out of her depth, in this dangerous world into which Shearing suddenly is plunged. Her initial slide into hysteria looks and sounds just right, as Weisz digs deep for an inner core of stubborn defiance, in order to hold things together. Later, having (reluctantly) learned to trust Cross, Weisz brings considerable emotional warmth to what follows, her character’s sincerity doing much to elicit similar positive virtues from this man who, at other times, seems more killing machine than human being.

Norton is properly smarmy as Byer, and Tony Award-winning stage actress Donna Murphy is memorably persuasive as his capable and similarly pragmatic aide. Zeljko Ivanek is chilling as Foite, one of Shearing’s Cadent lab colleagues; Elizabeth Marvel is similarly creepy, as a government psychologist whose motives prove to be less than sincere.

Scott Glenn and David Strathairn briefly pop up in the roles they introduced in 2007’s “Bourne Ultimatum,” and Gilroy cheekily keeps Matt Damon firmly in our minds, with occasional photographs in files passed among key characters.

“The Bourne Legacy” layers slick, suspenseful action atop an intriguing, intelligent and emotionally involving narrative. Previous director Paul Greengrass definitely brought Ludlum’s Bourne series into the 21st century with authoritative snap, and Gilroy has continued the tradition quite honorably.

And as this film’s closing scene quite blatantly teases, we’ve not seen the last of Aaron Cross.

— Read more of Derrick Bang’s film criticism at http://derrickbang.blogspot.com. Comment on this review at www.davisenterprise.com

“The Avengers”

Four stars

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg, Gwyneth Paltrow

Rating: PG-13, for intense sci-fi action and violence

A few weeks ago, Josh Whedon helped redefine the entire horror movie genre, with the nefariously clever “Cabin in the Woods.” Today, he has kick-started the summer movie season with the witty, giddily explosive thrills of “The Avengers” … while deftly avoiding the many pitfalls that could have derailed this Summit Meeting of Superheroes.

The biggest challenge comes from stage-managing the antics of half a dozen dynamic Marvel Comics icons, four of whom — Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the Hulk — already have their own popular film franchises, complete with established villains, supporting players and running plotlines.

This puts considerable pressure on the need to properly showcase each character, while preserving the existing narrative threads and granting sufficient exposure to the comparative newcomers — Hawkeye and the Black Widow — and the “guy in charge” (Nick Fury).

Whedon and co-scripter Zak Penn have done a marvelous job, with a sharp, savvy screenplay that lives up to — and surpasses — expectation.

The core plot is easy to digest, with the usual arrogant villain who intends to enslave our planet with the assistance of an armada of nasty, deep-space aliens; while the peril is serious, the action allows for plenty of snarky dialogue and the occasional droll sight-gag (as with, in one quick scene, the Hulk’s rather abrupt dismissal of Thor).

At the same time, Whedon isn’t afraid to show some teeth; the eyebrow-raising, Manhattan-devastating carnage includes some grim tidings. Let us not forget that a few beloved “Firefly” characters perished in the big-screen sequel, “Serenity,” much to the lamentations of that show’s fans.

Attentive superhero buffs have been prepped for this film since the post-credits tag scene that concluded 2008’s “Iron Man,” when the uber-mysterious Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) tantalized Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) with a project known as “The Avenger Initiative.” Subsequent hints were dropped in the final moments of “The Hulk,” “Captain America” and “Iron Man 2,” while the core plotline — involving the glowing blue cube known as the tesseract — received early exposure at the end of last year’s “Thor,” when Fury revealed this cosmic artifact to an intrigued Professor Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård), who appeared to be under the influence of the Asgardian god’s evil half-brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

In between films, the tesseract has been examined and probed by Fury and his research scientists of SHIELD — the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division — the ultimate U.S. good-guy black-ops organization. Fury and his ubiquitous sidekick, the drolly straight-faced Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), have been hoping to exploit the tesseract’s power in order to beef up Earth’s defenses, given the ever-more-dire celestial menaces that have been popping up.

“The Avengers” begins as Loki, granted additional cosmic powers by the lizard-like Chittauri, a deep-space warrior race, blasts his way into SHIELD headquarters and steals the tesseract. He also absconds with Selvig and SHIELD’s high-tech, bow-and-arrow-wielding sentinel, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), having subverted both their wills and turned them into acolytes.

With Thor (Chris Hemsworth) off-world and therefore unable to deal with Loki, Fury and Coulson activate the Avenger Initiative. SHIELD operative Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson, appropriately sultry), better known as the Black Widow, is sent to fetch Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), who has been keeping a low profile as a field doctor caring for the poor. Natasha insists that Fury wants Banner only for his research expertise — and not for the uncontrollable rage demon that lurks within, like a giant green Mr. Hyde — but the good doctor sadly suspects otherwise.

Ruffalo smoothly elicits our compassion for Banner, as the pluperfect tortured soul: a well-meaning scientist who spends every waking moment trying to remain calm, lest he unleash the beast within. Ruffalo is far more vulnerable and sympathetic than Norton’s take on the same character, who was much too arrogant in the latter actor’s hands.

Agent Coulson goes after Stark and his wonderfully armored alter-ego, Iron Man; Stark rebuffs the offer, snapping that he’s “not much of a team player” — in Downey’s hilariously haughty flippancy — but gal pal Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow, a bit sexier than she played this role in the two “Iron Man” films) successfully appeals to his nobler instincts.

Fury, finally, approaches the displaced Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), whose Captain America was a WWII hero before losing half a century in suspended animation and being revived in the 21st century. Rogers — still a man out of time, and constantly puzzled by the culture and technology we take for granted — jumps at the opportunity to once again serve his country.

The major problem, as Stark put into words, is that these guys don’t play well with others; they’re prickly alpha individuals who like to call their own shots, and don’t respond well to authority figures. Indeed, Stark actively distrusts Fury and SHIELD, and of course Thor — when he finally joins the crew — has the imperial aloofness one would expect of a Norse god.

Fortunately, Loki’s machinations become so dire that collaborative good-guy action becomes imperative, however reluctantly it might be embraced. Then, too, Rogers’ inherent patriotism — so earnestly expressed by Evans — can’t help touching hearts and minds.

Whedon certainly knows his Marvel Comics lore, and he recognizes — and exploits — the long-standing tradition of impatient superheroes who, at times, wind up battling each other through needless misunderstandings. Thus, Iron Man foolishly gets in Thor’s face, while a hopelessly outmatched Natasha tries to survive a close encounter with the Hulk.

These warm-ups, mostly in good fun, are mere prelude to the devastating climax; it probably isn’t spoiling anything to reveal that the Chittauri do eventually invade New York.

Along the way, longtime comic book fans are rewarded with marvelous moments large and small, from the Hulk’s effort to lift Thor’s hammer — which can be wielded solely by the Asgardian god — to the big-screen debut of SHIELD’s totally awesome helicarrier … and let’s just acknowledge that this film’s special-effects team delivers the goods, and then some.

All these skirmishes are accompanied by droll dialogue, often slightly mocking, but never so arch that things descend into parody. In their previous films, Downey, Evans and Hemsworth have demonstrated a talent for playing these fantastical roles with conviction; Ruffalo, Jackson and Johansson are just as capable. Renner doesn’t have quite as much fun, since Hawkeye spends so much of the film in a brainwashed state, but he makes up for lost time in the final act.

While “The Avengers” lacks the emotional gravitas of “Spider-Man 2” or “The Dark Knight,” it’s only a near-miss; besides, Whedon’s goal is a bit more larkish than the brooding claustrophobia of Christopher Nolan’s take on Batman. Whedon wants us to care about his characters — and we do — but he also wants us to have a good time.

And we do.

— Read more of Derrick Bang’s film criticism at derrickbang.blogspot.com. Comment on this review at www.davisenterprise.com