Stars Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Kiera Knightly and Kenneth Branagh Directed by Kenneth Branagh Tom Clancy’s hero, Jack Ryan, gets another reboot following the last appearance of the character in The Sum Of All Fears (2002), itself a reboot featuring Ben Afflack as the analyst hero. Before that, Harrison Ford essayed the role in two movies (Patriot Games (1992) and Clear And Present Danger (1994)), which was more of a realignment from the best and original that was The Hunt For Red October (1990) where Alec Baldwin first brought Ryan to the screen. In the previous movies, Ryan was more of an analyst, often seen behind the scenes from the major events and then trotted out towards the end simply because no one else knows more about the situation at hand than he does by that point. In those cases, it’s clear he’s not a field operative (although Harrison Ford might beg to differ) and usually out of his element once in the field. Baldwin, of course, did it best under the taut direction of John McTiernan. Ford did rein things in from his typical action man shenanigans, showing a more ‘brains than brawn’ approach in his movies while Afflack did his best with the material he got, given the global circumstances surrounding his movie. That put Jack Ryan into cinematic storage for a good decade as the world changed and such characters were evaluated as how they would fit into this strange new world. Just look at James Bond post 2001. In this new iteration, we get a full scale reboot and an update, kicking off the story with that fateful day in 2001 and Ryan (Chris Pine) is given a history over the next few years through an extended pre-title prologue before jumping to the present day for the rest of the movie. His original CIA mentor, James Greer, is replaced by Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner) who recruits him into the shadowy world of the CIA (guess that’s where the new title comes from) to be an analyst working in Wall Street. Of course, during the course of the story, Ryan goes from analyst to field operative, although the ease at which he does it seems a little convenient, especially more so by the time the action packed finale rolls around. The tensions that used to be built up by having people stand around a bunch of monitors waiting things out are so passé now. So, what we have is a Jack Ryan for a new world, brought to life by Chris Pine, possibly in it for an alternative potential franchise to carry by his lonesome? Pine does well enough with the role while running a gamut of emotional states, some more unusual than others. The ease at which he seems to slip his character between nervous and confident - particularly through a dinner scene with fiancé Cathy (Kiera Knightly) and the sinister Viktor Cherevin (an excellent Kenneth Branagh). It is also around this part of the movie that there might some story problems revolving around Cathy. A key plot point that might grate on some viewers, especially the ease at which she comes to terms with Ryan’s secret life. Somewhere in my head, it sot of makes sense, IF we had seen her mull over some of the other aspects from earlier in the show., For the sake of expediency, maybe they decided to skip over it. In a time where most movies seem to push themselves beyond the two hour mark, Shadow Recruit seem satisfied to go old school (in more ways than one) and get things done at a respectable 100 plus minutes. Yes, Branagh's direction is fairly old school, letting the characters tell the story and letting the situation and plot flow rather than clutter it with extra stuff. It’s also clear that he’s progressed as a director since Thor. Things seem less stagey than before, with his cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos utilising the locations on hand. It probably says something that only two visual effects company are listed in the credits - a summer movie has an average of six to eight these days. Still, Branagh relies on his stars quite a bit, and they do deliver solid performances. Kevin Costner is on something of a revival, finding these mentor roles to be quite rewarding (also see Man of Steel). Perhaps, only Knightly seems to be short-changed, more due to the story and plot. It might seem that her character is being set up for something with more potential, but that would probably also mean a major shift from the original concept of the character. I wouldn’t really know, tho, having only read the first book (Red October). Then again, this movie isn’t based on any of the Clancy books. In a period that is usually considered a dumping ground for movies that studios find hard to sell or market, Paramount Pictures may have a solid earner here. It’s decent and entertaining, solid enough action movie that would appeal to an average movie-goer. Fans of the character might complain for have taken Ryan quite far from the original source material, but Pine carries the character well enough that you wouldn’t mistake Ryan for Kirk. It does remain to be seen if a franchise will grow out of this. Rating: 3.5/5
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