At this point in the character’s history, you’ve probably at least heard the name Jack Ryan. He’s something of a super spy who was created by wildly popular novelist Tom Clancy, he’s appeared as the protagonist of a whole host of books, and he’s been portrayed in films by people like Alec Baldwin (The Hunt For Red October), Harrison Ford (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger), and Ben Affleck (The Sum of All Fears). Given all of the big names who have lent a hand to keeping the Jack Ryan name relevant, it should come as no surprise that Hollywood would be interested in rebooting the guy for a new film, which is exactly what we have here.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is a retelling of the Ryan origin story, which takes it out of the depths of the Cold War and puts it in a more modern reality that is post-911, but no less concerned with the evil intentions of Russia and all of the machinations they might still have in place against these great United States of ours. This time around Ryan’s relaunch is being handled by director Kenneth Branagh (who recently entered the world of directing blockbusters when he helmed Thor for Marvel), the character himself is being portrayed by rising star Chris Pine (who you might recognize as also being the new Captain Kirk), and big stars like Keira Knightley and Kevin Costner are playing supporting roles—so you know the studio is pretty serious about making this reboot a franchise-launcher that can spawn more movies. How did they do in that regard? Eh. They could have done worse. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is at least watchable.
What it never manages to be is all that engaging or all that memorable, and the reason that’s the case is that it sticks so closely to the well-worn tropes of the spy drama and fails so thoroughly to develop any personality of its own that you’d never guess this was a decades old property with legions of fans if you hadn’t already been clued in beforehand. Take every generic spy movie that you saw and promptly forgot between the years of, say, 1994 and 1997, put them in a blender, and what you’d come up with at the end is a smoothy of car crashes and data downloads called Shadow Recruit.
Honestly though, most of the problems with the film are problems with the spy genre in general. These kinds of movies get so wrapped up in being plot-driven that they end up focusing on the ins-and-outs of everyone’s plans to the detriment of letting us get to know the characters or helping us understand why we should care how everything ends up hashing out (other than our vague understanding that we don’t want the world to end). Spy movies, in an attempt at authenticity and complexity, beat us over the head with expository socks stuffed full of dialogue involving acronyms, new technologies, passwords, protocols, macro-economics, and who knows what else, and in the process they become word salad bores that are hard to pay attention to. Stop paying attention though, and then you won’t have a clear idea of why everyone is shooting at each other in the third act. The problem with spy movies is that they give us homework without deepening our understanding of anything important. They’d be better off focusing on creating interesting characters and worrying about making their action fun.
The good news about Jack Ryan is that the Ryan character is portrayed as being so broadly good, and the villain of the piece is portrayed as being so broadly bad (Branagh plays the role himself, and never fails to give his character an over-the-top-evil reintroduction every time he appears), that you have no real problem cheering the heroic Americans and booing the dastardly Russians (what year is this?) once things start to blow up. And the action here is straightforward and grounded enough (relative to what we’ve become used to recently) and put together competently enough that it’s a bit of fun to watch. A shootout/fight sequence in a hotel room is especially great. It’s not quite up to the level of the one Jason Statham had in Parker last year, but it’s similar in that it’s a fight between two people that destroys a hotel room, and it’s a scene that stands out in a movie that otherwise isn’t very memorable.
The other reason Jack Ryan (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost typed Jack Reacher) is just a step above being a failure is that the core of actors Branagh put together to anchor it are all strong. Pine has that perfect mix of swagger, piercing eyes, and approachability to do this action stuff and make it look easy. Costner is doing that same understated father figure thing he did in Man of Steel, and while it doesn’t play as being as much of a relief here as it did in that otherwise abysmal film, it’s still welcome. Knightley is an actress who’s always been a bit hit or miss with me, but when she’s asked to do little other than be an affable and pretty female companion to the male hero character like she is here, she’s certainly not being asked to do anything beyond her capabilities. I wouldn’t be at all cross if a potential future installment gave her something meatier to work with than just a vague concern her boyfriend might be cheating on her. At this point in her career she should be past taking roles like this. If you’re not going to give the female lead anything to do, why not just cast some blank-faced model in the role, you know?
So, with all of the pieces that have been put in place here, given the possibility that Shadow Recruit makes enough money to earn itself a sequel, would that be something that fans should be interested in? It could go either way, honestly. Pine, Costner, and Knightley are certainly a strong enough trio to anchor a handful of action movies, and the depth of Clancy’s Jack Ryan catalogue proves that there are plenty of stories to be told with the character. One would just hope that they’d be working with a more interesting script the next time around, now that they’ve gotten all of the origin stuff out of the way. If another Jack Ryan movie came out I would definitely watch it, but I can’t say that I’d be at all enthusiastic about it going in.
