Jack Ryan has now been played by Han Solo, The New Batman, Captain Kirk, aaaaaand Alec Baldwin.
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“Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit” is a reboot of the Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan starring Chris Pine in a story written just for the screen. It follows the early days of Jack Ryan’s recruitment into the CIA and how he is instrumental in uncovering and tracking down a terrorist threat in Russia. Now as a fan of the original Clancy movies I was anxious to see what might become of our beloved strong willed CIA agent and if they could recapture the fun and action of geopolitical intrigue for a new generation. And the answer? For the most part ,sure.
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All in all, this is a pretty tightly crafted, well acted little action flick. It’s by no means perfect, and we will get to some glaring flaws here in a second, but I think I really enjoyed it. First off, the story telling is very efficient. The characters are set up completely, but concisely, so that we can get into the heart of the story quickly and it never feels like it’s dragging it’s feet. The acting is sufficient all around, with Chris Pine’s Jack Ryan bringing the perfect vulnerability and stubbornness to the role. Also of special note is Kevin Costner, whose recruiter mentor role is the best thing in the movie as far as I’m concerned. To be honest, with this and Man of Steel he’s really finding a niche as this father figure mentor type, and he nails it with such heart and truth that I found myself wishing I had his number so I could call him with my own issues and he could lovingly guide me to the right decisions. I was also a big fan of the writing throughout the film, with many of those wonderful dialogue driven face offs that Clancy became known for. Just once I want to be in a heated discussion and have such pithy and clever things to say. Actually just once in any situation, I’d like to have such pithy and clever things to say.
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So where did Shadow Recruit lose points? Well, lets start with the tendencies for this type of film to get bogged down in explaining plot points or delineating the ins and outs of complex plans and motives. I never felt like I didn’t understand what was going on, but there were a few moments where I wanted a little less conversation and a little more action please. But then it wouldn’t be but a few moments before the intensity ratcheted back up and Jack Ryan was leaping through the air or chasing down a speeding car. Which, by the way, was probably the worst thing. Every once in while Jack Ryan would transform from a believable, self conscious, nervous man in over his head, into some sort of super hero. Do you ever watch a movie scene and then after it happens you just look at the screen and go uhhhhh no. Yeah, that happened on more than one occasion here. Of course the truth is I kinda dug it anyway, even if it did notch the believability factor down the scale. I also thought Kenneth Branagh (who also directed) started off playing the villain with a little bit too much fervor, but he actually settled into the role quite nicely by the end even adding a little nuance.
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At the end of the day, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is a decent attempt to reboot a character I loved from the 90s, Chris Pine and Kevin Costner put in stand out performances and deliver great dialogue amongst some impressive action. Even if it is a bit over the top at times I still go with a B-
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Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? You can click here to see Reviews for Ride Along, The Nut Job, or I Frankenstein. You can also Click the logo up here to go to yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. I know it’s a small pool but why not? Name “the best Jack Ryan movie ever”. Mine involved Mr. Ryan barking at the leader of the free world like some junkyard dog. Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and don’t forget to subscribe!