Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Starring: Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kevin Costner, Kenneth Branagh
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Rating: 3.5/5
It has been over a decade since we have seen a Jack Ryan movie hit the big screen… 2014 marks his return as Chris Pine takes over the role.
Jack Ryan is as popular a literary character now as he was when Tom Clancy first created him, but this time around, we see a very different side to this everyman hero.
The story follows Ryan from 9/11, through his tour of duty in Afghanistan, which scarred him forever, and into his early days in the Financial Intelligence Unit of the modern CIA where he becomes an analyst, under the guardianship of his handler, Harper (Costner).
When Ryan believes he’s uncovered a Russian plot to collapse the United States economy, he goes from being an analyst to becoming a spy and must fight to save his own life and those of countless others, while also trying to protect the thing that’s more important to him than anything, his relationship with his fiancée Cathy (Knightley).
Never before have we seen the early years of this character, but with Shadow Recruit we see his early years at university and military service; these moments in the film may be brief, but it goes give us a really good sense of who this man is.
Ryan is an every day hero, he is patriot, cares for the people in his life, and he is affected when he sees or experiences death. Pine really does breathe new life into this character and makes him a relevant hero for a modern day audience.
There is something thoroughly likeable about Pine, no matter what role he is playing, and this means that really are rooting for Ryan right from the beginning. He is a man who battles back from serious injury, and you really do want nothing more than to see him succeed.
I have always liked Kenneth Branagh as a director, even if he is helming a big budget blockbuster, he really does make it all about characters.
Characters and relationships are the core of this movie - the love story between Jack & Cathy and the secret between the really does drive this film forward.
This is not the kind of role that you would expect to see Knightley in of late, but she really does bring an interesting dynamic to Cathy. Cathy is an incredibly strong and intelligent; she isn’t simply the token female in the film.
From start to finish, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is a fast paced film that really doesn’t allow the audience to catch their breath.
This is not a film that re-invents the action genre, but it is slick, exciting and a great introduction to this character.
Ok, it is a little predictable and you know how it is going to end, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have a lot of fun watching them get there.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is out now.
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