When it comes to January films, most of the the time we get either bad and forgettable or worst film of the year material. However, this film is a huge exception.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is the latest film in the Jack Ryan series based on the books by Tom Clancy. If you're unfamiliar with who Jack Ryan is, he's this CIA analyst who, in the books and previous films, often uncovers major terrorist plots or conspiracies. In this film he's played by Chris Pine, and the film also co-stars Kevin Costner, Keira Knightley and Kenneth Branagh, and is also directed by Kenneth Branagh.
Now, when I went into the movie I had a lot of doubt, for a couple of reasons. Mainly, I was concerned the film was going to be too hollywood-y. Because I like the character of Jack Ryan, I like the fact that unlike James Bond or Ethan Hunt (from Mission Impossible) where the character needs a smart tech savvy supporting character, Jack Ryan is the character that does the smart tech stuff, but can also manage himself in a fight. And so when Chris Pine was announced as Jack Ryan, I was skeptical. I don't have anything against Chris Pine (shit, the dude kills it as Kirk), I just didn't see him as the role going into this film. However, I am pleased to tell you that Chris Pine does a pretty good job in this role. And it didn't seem like him just playing the Kirk role again, I thought this film was a good way for him to show new edge on a different theme.
The supporting cast is also cool too, Kevin Costner and Kenneth Branagh were probably the highlights of the film for me. Kevin Costner was really cool in the film, he was edgy and confident, but also had a funny yet serious sense of humour. In the trailers he seems like a comic relief-ish character, but he actually is pretty tough and cool in the film. As for Kenneth Branagh, he was pretty cool as the villain in this film as well. He was intimidating and had a cool demeanour. But the thing I liked the most about this villain was that it wasn't like your typical Bond villain, where it's like this impossible threat, his character was pretty down to Earth. I like seeing movies do that with their villains.
One of the aspects of the film itself I liked a lot, was that it did the same thing Skyfall did (in a way) where it does a good job of combining elements of a classic spy movie with elements of a modern espionage thriller. And considering that - just like Skyfall - this movie isn't based on any of the original books. It just took the character of Jack Ryan and re-envisioned him in a new era. On that topic, I felt they did a good job of replacing Jack Ryans past with a modern past. Making it so the character can exist in modern day. I felt they did a good job at doing this, so props to them.
However, this film is not without it's issues. To list a few, I don't think Chris Pine and Keira Knightley had good chemistry in most of their scenes. Some of the music was poorly timed for their scenes, and the dialogue between them wasn't that well written. The music and writing worked in other scenes, but theirs, it just fell flat and brought the movie down. And on the topic of the writing, I felt like it didn't quite capture what makes espionage thrillers like this one fun to watch, which is the factor of unpredictability. I'm not saying like this film was super predictable, but usually spy movies grip an audience by surprising them with either plot twists or significant events you didn't expect. I didn't see any of that in the film, I just saw a cool thriller movie.
Final Rating
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is a fun and entertaining action film, with a lot of things to like. I would like to see where studios are going with this, because this was very cool. It may have some flaws that will annoy the more critical of movie-goers, but it's a smarter film than most other popcorn flicks. While this isn't exactly a film I'd say you should go out of your way to see, or go to a theatre specifically to see it. But, if you're out with some buddies, and you're at a movie theatre this is a pretty good choice.
Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit: 3.25/5
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