Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is an action thriller film starring Chris Pine, Kevin Costner and Keira Knightly. The film is directed by Kenneth Branagh who also directed Thor.

This is the fifth film in the Jack Ryan franchise (Created by Tom Clancy) but instead of being a continuation, this is a reboot and serves as an origin story which seems to be the trend in Hollywood these days.

So the film starts off on September 11 2001. Jack Ryan is studying at the London School of Economics, graduates and then returns home to serve his country to fight in Afghanistan. However, he is critically injured, spends ages in rehab and is eventually drafted by the CIA to be an undercover agent. He works on Wall Street as a compliance officer, but is of course doing analytic searching for terrorist activity which he of course discovers. His mission now: Travel to Russia, discover the source of the activity and put it to a halt.

Here’s what I didn’t like about the movie.

There are a few scenes in the movie where the script just seems unbelievable and the action is just not on par. Now granted this is an action that deals with covert CIA operations. And there are a couple of continuity errors. One example of this is within ten minutes of Ryan landing in Russia is already targeted by a hit man. The problem with this is he is posing as an auditor and no one knows of his true identity and after this encounter, it’s done and dusted, no one asks questions and everyone believes he is an auditor.  

Then there is the acting chemistry between Chris Pine and Keira Knightly. The problem with the chemistry is quite simple: it’s non-existent. The characters are romantically involved but you just don’t feel it, that connection just doesn’t translate on camera and I think the one main problem is Keiria Knightly putting on an American accent. It just doesn’t feel right and doesn’t really feel natural at all.

Here’s what I did like:

Although the film does have its flaws, it isn’t a complete disaster. There is plenty of action to satisfy the Ryan fans, the CIA fans and the general action movie fans. There is some pretty cool tech used in the movie and you do feel the tension and the excitement when Ryan has to go all covert and sneak into areas that he’s just not supposed to be. This of course keeps you in suspense and you keep asking yourself, will he make it or will he get caught…?

So this is a breath of fresh air into the Jack Ryan franchise. It might not have the same allure as the Bourne movies, nor the tech savvy suave as the Bond films, but the film is still able to capture you and take you on a thrill ride and of course, Jack Ryan fans and Tom Clancy fans will love this one.

With that in mind, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit gets a covert 7 out of 10

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