Video: The Bourne Legacy leaps the explosion

Universal Pictures has released a TV spot for its upcoming fantasy spy thriller, The Bourne Legacy.

The film picks up the story after the end of the Bourne trilogy which starred Matt Damon as a secret agent being hunted down by his own agency in a display of supernatural skills.

This TV spot is interesting because it is not the typical ‘coolest 30 seconds of the trailer’ type spot we’re used to. Rather, it’s a freshly cut 30 second spot which focuses heavily on the action of the film, instead of the plot.

There are certainly a lot of guns and explosions, but I suppose that’s what we’re looking for here. Jeremy Renner gave a good action performance in this year’s top blockbuster film The Avengers in the role of Hawkeye, and this character seems somewhat similar, so we can probably expect the same level of acting here. Hopefully, Renner is able to create a distinction between the characters. If not, he could very well end up type-casting himself, which would be a shame.

Renner picks up the lead from Damon, but unlike the Bond series, he’s not playing the same character. Renner’s character is part of the same program that created Jason Borne, and his adventure is precipitated by the events of the first three films.

Perhaps in this film, we’ll finally learn what it is that gives the agents of The Program their super powers, but most likely, it will continue to only be vaguely hinted at. There is no official plot synopsis available yet, but we can see that it will clearly involve lots of shooting guns and running from danger, in addition to a possible inside look at The Program, or at least the recruiting process.

Here’s the theatrical trailer, in case you missed it last month:

The Bourne Legacy, co-written and directed by Tony Gilroy, who helped pen the first trilogy, hits theaters August 10th, 2012.