Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

It would seem that Chris Pine has become Hollywood's go-to guy when it wants to revive a dormant film franchise, and make it more appealing to a younger audience.  After playing Captain Kirk in the last two Star Trek films, Pine now gets to step into the shoes of Jack Ryan, the literary hero from Tom Clancy, who has previously been brought to life on the screen by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck.  Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit serves as a modernized origin story for the character, and as far as fast-paced thrillers go, it's pretty successful. 

Kenneth Branagh has the directing duties, and he shows a certain skill in staging some pretty elaborate action sequences.  Surprisingly, this is not even all that action-heavy of a movie.  But, even when the guns are not blazing or the cars are speeding down the highway, the movie creates a palpable amount of tension.  Pine plays Jack Ryan as a rookie, so he's far from the confident hero we've seen in past films, although we get to see glimpses of it.  As the film opens, Ryan is a student at a University in England who, after seeing the Twin Towers fall on 9/11, becomes inspired to serve his country and join the military.  After he is wounded in Afghanistan, he meets two important people during his time recovering. The first is the lovely Cathy (Kiera Knightley), who helps him recover from his injuries and eventually becomes his live-in girlfriend.  The other is Commander Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner), who recruits Jack into the CIA, as an analyst and an undercover agent on Wall Street.

It's during his time on Wall Street that Ryan happens to uncover a possible plan being set up by the Russians to destroy the U.S. economy.  The villain behind the plot is Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh), who has a personal vendetta against the Americans, and is setting up a massive terrorist attack to coincide with his plan.  Jack Ryan is sent off to Moscow to investigate, and quickly finds himself on the run from Russian agents who want him dead once he starts getting too close to the truth.  Cathy eventually follows him, under the suspicion that he is having an affair, and gets wrapped up in the whole situation also.  All of this is told with a certain amount of style.  As I mentioned, the action sequences are all well done, but more than that, the movie never once slows down, or feels like it is getting bogged down with too much information or jargon.  It has all the intensity of a summer blockbuster for adults, which is kind of welcoming in these dreary days of January.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit takes a little while to find its footing, but once it does, it becomes a confident and exciting film.  I would say the first half hour or so is probably the weakest half.  Once Ryan enters Moscow, the movie finds the right angle, and never looks back.  It constantly seems to be moving, but is not so frantic that we start begging for a quiet moment.  Like all good thrillers, it puts forth just enough information to keep us intrigued, while not giving all its cards away, so that we lose interest.  The screenplay by Adam Cozad and David Koepp rewards our interest by not only ratcheting up the suspense, but also by not getting too silly or over the top that we lose interest.  This is a movie that has been well thought out and executed all around.

I have to wonder, though, how Tom Clancy's fans will react to Chris Pine.  He plays a much younger and not as experienced Jack Ryan, and he comes across differently than he has in pas films.  Regardless, he is very good, and is more than capable of pulling off the stunts and action when called for.  And as casting himself as the lead villain, director Branagh gives a quiet performance that is more sad and chilling, than over the top.  And I really think Kevin Costner has found a great role playing Ryan's CIA mentor.  Should this film spin off into sequels, I hope they expand upon his character, and improve his relationship with Ryan, as I enjoyed a lot of the scenes he did with Pine.

As an attempt to reboot the Jack Ryan film franchise, and possibly spin it off into a new series, this is largely a success, and one that could get better with future sequels.  Even if the film is not based on a certain book, it does have an understanding of the characters, and shows a lot of hope that this new potential series is headed in the right direction.

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