Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

It should be no secret that I love the spy genre.

I'm writing a spy novel of my own for God's sake.

So I'm pretty critical of the franchise when it comes to movies and I know when I see a good one, a great one, and one that I wont really remember three weeks from now.

Recently, the genre has experienced a bit of a revival. I awarded perfect scores to both Skyfall and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol because they were fantastic. Two very different movies, yes, but they were both examples of Bond and Hunt at the very top of their form. The most recent Bourne film, The Bourne Legacy, was a little less successful. Coming from a franchise that was near-perfect other than its overuse of shaky-cam, Legacy was completely useless and poorly planned out.

One agent that has been out of the game for a while is Jack Ryan, the genius C.I.A. agent created by the spy-story master, the late Tom Clancy. Most of Ryan's last movies have been good enough but none of them have ever really stuck with audiences for long. It's a franchise that has had its fair share of finding its footing and doing something special.

I had my fingers crossed that Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, and origin story of sorts for the agent, would be the start of something special. And for a time during the movie, I thought it was. But then it slowly creeps deeper and deeper into "average" territory and I'm sad to say that Bond and Hunt are still sitting very comfortably at the top of the spy pedestal.

Chris Pine giving his best Tom Cruise impersonation...

The most hipster C.I.A. officer ever

Shadow Recruit starts off strong and stays that way for the first hour. The initial story of Ryan's difficulties is inspiring and it really helps to create a well-rounded character rather than a cookie cutter spy. Additionally, the story of international espionage of the American dollar is intriguing. The more I thought about, the more ludicrous and stupid it sounded, but when its explained in the movie it sounds like a very real, dangerous, and frankly scary threat that escalates the stakes of the movie significantly. Another strong point for the film is the casting. Chris Pine has some strong qualities and creates a believable Jack Ryan, particularly in the scenes where he makes his first kills and has to deal with that fallout. Equally as impressive, and experiencing somewhat of a career revival right now, is Kevin Costner as Jack's superior. He exudes strong leadership and a "no BS" attitude that really creates a strong tandem between the two of them. Kenneth Branagh (who also directs the film) is a strong villain during the scenes that we do see him, but in all honesty he doesn't get much to do here except display his Russian accent. Despite the fact that I despised Kiera Knightly's character, which I will get to later, she did the best with which she had to work with.

"Is he going to give us a good score?"
"In Soviet Russia, Rath does not give good score. Good score...gives...Rath?
I don't know, just keep reading!"

I'm liking my busier schedule these days because it gives me a while longer to think about a movie and the issues I had with it as well as the things I liked. A day ago, I would have given a similar score to Jack Ryan but the extra time has helped me to realize one thing: that this film really isn't all that special. As I said above, it starts out that way, with the first hour of origin and plot explanation making you think that something awesome is coming. But after an intense fight where Ryan kills his first man and explains what is happening to Costner's character, we are met with a romance blunder that just doesn't work. Kiera Knightly's character is atrocious. She is needy, over-curious for almost no particular reason, and on a whim decides to fly herself to Russia? Jack, why are you even still with her? I almost had to force myself to not shake my head the more and more she got involved and I just couldn't help but think that she was an incredibly dumb character. Almost more disappointing is the finale. With most spy films we actually don't get our best action scene in the final showdown, but this final showdown can hardly even be considered an action scene. I won't give it away but it came across feeling like a limp noodle to me and really ended the film on a weak note. Another issue I have is the tagline of the movie: "Don't Trust Anyone". Ummm...was there a single betrayal in the film? A single flip of the script or rug-pull moment? If so I totally missed it. Much like the missing action, the lack of plot twists hurts this movie a great deal.

"I love you babe. Even though you are annoying, won't commit to me, and stalked me
halfway around the world to Russia, I still adore you!"

It's unfortunate that Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is so lukewarm and that it doesn't seem to be doing well in theaters. I would definitely like to see this cast and team have another shot at this franchise. But as it stands, this opening film doesn't do anything special and comes across as only slightly better than average. Had its genre been a lot less busy, it might have made a greater impression on me. But when I get out of one spy film only to think to myself, "Gee I really want to watch Ghost Protocol" that doesn't spell anything good for my memory of the film I just left.

There might be something special with these pieces of Jack Ryan. But they aren't to be found in this starter film.

Side note: GO BRONCOS!!!!! SUPERBOWL! SUPERBOWL!

Peyton. F**king. Manning

CONS:

• Kiera Knightly's character is obnoxious and annoying. The fact that she was used as a plot point makes the movie travel further into average territory
• For a spy film there is a curious lack of action. Other than a somewhat-brutal fight scene and a nifty hacking scene the movie is action-less
• You know the sound that a helium balloon makes when you don't tie the end and let it go? That's what the ending to Shadow Recruit is like
• Just doesn't do anything memorable in the face of stiff, fabulous competition like James Bond and Ethan Hunt

PROS:

• The cast was well chosen. There is definitely something great to be had in the combo of Costner and Pine. Both are the strongest aspects of the film. Knightly and Branagh do the best with what they are given
• Starts off strong and the origins of the character really help to round him out
• Interesting story about the collapse of the U.S. dollar. I like plots to spy films that seem current and out-of-the-box. For the most part, Jack Ryan is both of these
• Despite this ho-hum start, there is a lot of room for potential for the series. It just needs more action and some smarter character usage

Rath's Review Score: 6.5/10