Whenever anyone asks me if I saw Jack Ryan it takes me a minute to figure out if they mean this movie starring Chris Pine or last year’s Jack Reacher starring Tom Cruise. The names are just too darn similar. In the defense of Ryan, they did add Shadow Recruit afterwards in order to give it some originality. The film tells the origin story of Jack Ryan, a spy among many other things who is the lead in Tom Clancy’s popular book series. On screen the character has been played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck before Chris pine took his turn.
In order to make room for the main conflict in the film, the character’s backstory is summarized through the films first act. It seems like episodes of a TV show the way his time in college, military experience and subsequent recovery play out in rapid fire succession. But once everything gets moving there is a high level of charm at work alongside the tension and drama. Director (and costar) Kenneth Branagh does well keeping the film’s voice central throughout. As a spy story in Europe, Shadow Recruit could have very easily become a Mission Impossible or James Bond wannabe. That isn’t the case however.
Pine does well as the film’s lead, but never quite fits in the role the way he does in the Star Trek franchise. Branagh is a great accented villain to counteract the charm of Pine. The one dimensional character played by Kevin Costner proves less successful however as the personality could have been played by just about any actor in Hollywood. Last of the featured actors is Kiera Knightley. She gives a more accessible performance than we’re used to in the majority of her work, but the character is written as a bit clueless. Overall the film is a successful effort, but I don’t expect we’ll be remembering its name.
Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.
