Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
(B- or 2.5/4 stars)
We're transported back to the land of popcorn munching, 1990s espionage thrillers with 2014's 'Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit', re-booted from Tom Clancy's famous novels & directed by thespian, Kenneth Branagh. This "origin story" (of sorts) introduces us to young Jack (Chris Pine) as a student at the London School of Economics on 9/11 during the attack on the World Trade Center. Intensely patriotic, Jack joins the Marines, only to be attacked in a helicopter somewhere over Afghanistan; he saves 2 other men gives him hero status. Recuperating at a hospital, he falls in love with Cathy (Keira Knightley), a med student in charge of his physical therapy sessions. He's also spotted/recruited by Naval Commander William Harper (Kevin Costner) to join the CIA as an analyst.
Jack's role changes from analyst to ground level action when, as an undercover agent on Wall Street, he discovers the schemes of a Russian conspiracy to crash the U.S. economy & launch another terrorist attack on NY. Ordered by Harper, Ryan heads off to Moscow to investigate the situation. The evil mastermind of this plot, Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh), as well as his gov't boss (Mikhail Baryshnikov), sees Jack Ryan as "dangerous" & tries to have him eliminated. Meanwhile, Cathy decides to surprise Jack by joining him at his Moscow hotel, placing herself dead in the middle of the dangerous mission at hand. Action ensues.
So, 'Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit' is a pretty decent little thriller. It's mildly diverting. It feels familiar. And it's also fairly predictable. But it's also what I affectionately call a 'Meat & Potatoes' flick. In other words: it gets the job done. It's a good Friday night movie to see. There's little flash, little originality ... but it starts & ends well with lots of easily digestible meat to chew on in the middle -- Meat & Potatoes {haha}. Not unlike the James Bond films, these Tom Clancy Jack Ryan novel adaptations have seen a lonnnnng string of lead actors such as Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, & now Chris Pine.
Pine, best known for playing Star Trek's Kirk, has an amiable presence, intelligent demeanor, but also a blunt physicality which makes his Jack Ryan more of an action hero than some of his predecessors. Playing Jack's fiancee, Keira Knightley is strong, appealing, & inflects a great American accent. Sure, she gets her damsel-in-distress moments, but her character is actually more involved in the main plot than the usual lead female in these types of films; I liked that. Kevin Costner lends his cool calm has Commander Harper. And Kenneth Branagh, with heavy Russian accent in tow, gives us a great bad-guy. His Viktor is as much a patriot of Russia as Jack is for America. He's a patriot. He's evil beyond words. But he's also multi-dimensional; and we don't always get that in movie villains.
As director, Branagh also understands how to keep the movie, well, moving. There are 3 main action sequences (a hotel ambush, a heist, & a car chase) that are fairly exciting. In fact, the heist in the middle of the film crackled with tension & suspense; my palms were mighty sweaty through that one. The connection btwn. those brisk action scenes and the talky, dramatic scenes is well-handled. Sure, some of the plot is implausible (when some CIA agents make lightning quick deductions about the identity & location of a terrorist). But the film does not bog us down with self-importance or excessive exposition. You know, most movies released in January are pure garbage. And even if this film isn't stellar, it is efficient, and the difference in quality from those garbage films is substantial.
Jack's role changes from analyst to ground level action when, as an undercover agent on Wall Street, he discovers the schemes of a Russian conspiracy to crash the U.S. economy & launch another terrorist attack on NY. Ordered by Harper, Ryan heads off to Moscow to investigate the situation. The evil mastermind of this plot, Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh), as well as his gov't boss (Mikhail Baryshnikov), sees Jack Ryan as "dangerous" & tries to have him eliminated. Meanwhile, Cathy decides to surprise Jack by joining him at his Moscow hotel, placing herself dead in the middle of the dangerous mission at hand. Action ensues.
So, 'Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit' is a pretty decent little thriller. It's mildly diverting. It feels familiar. And it's also fairly predictable. But it's also what I affectionately call a 'Meat & Potatoes' flick. In other words: it gets the job done. It's a good Friday night movie to see. There's little flash, little originality ... but it starts & ends well with lots of easily digestible meat to chew on in the middle -- Meat & Potatoes {haha}. Not unlike the James Bond films, these Tom Clancy Jack Ryan novel adaptations have seen a lonnnnng string of lead actors such as Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, & now Chris Pine.
Pine, best known for playing Star Trek's Kirk, has an amiable presence, intelligent demeanor, but also a blunt physicality which makes his Jack Ryan more of an action hero than some of his predecessors. Playing Jack's fiancee, Keira Knightley is strong, appealing, & inflects a great American accent. Sure, she gets her damsel-in-distress moments, but her character is actually more involved in the main plot than the usual lead female in these types of films; I liked that. Kevin Costner lends his cool calm has Commander Harper. And Kenneth Branagh, with heavy Russian accent in tow, gives us a great bad-guy. His Viktor is as much a patriot of Russia as Jack is for America. He's a patriot. He's evil beyond words. But he's also multi-dimensional; and we don't always get that in movie villains.
As director, Branagh also understands how to keep the movie, well, moving. There are 3 main action sequences (a hotel ambush, a heist, & a car chase) that are fairly exciting. In fact, the heist in the middle of the film crackled with tension & suspense; my palms were mighty sweaty through that one. The connection btwn. those brisk action scenes and the talky, dramatic scenes is well-handled. Sure, some of the plot is implausible (when some CIA agents make lightning quick deductions about the identity & location of a terrorist). But the film does not bog us down with self-importance or excessive exposition. You know, most movies released in January are pure garbage. And even if this film isn't stellar, it is efficient, and the difference in quality from those garbage films is substantial.