100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 117: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Director: Kenneth Branagh
Genre: Thriller/ Crime/ Action
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 2014
Starring: Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh

Description: Jack Ryan (Chris Pine), as a young covert CIA analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.

Review: Jack Ryan is the most well-known character developed by author Tom Clancy. Alec Baldwin portrayed him in “The Hunt for Red October”, Harrison Ford did it in “Patriot Games” and Ben Affleck also played the CIA agent in the movie “The Sum of All Fears”. Now, over ten years later, Chris Pine has the honors to take over the role of CIA analist Jack Ryan. He has proven before that he can give a beloved character a new life, just look at Captain Kirk in the “Star Trek” reboot. Kevin Costner, Keira Knightley and Kenneth Branagh join him. Branagh is also responsible for directing the flick.
Jack Ryan decides to join the military after seeing the 9/11 footage. During his service, Ryan is injured and during rehabilitation he’s recruited by CIA agent Thomas Harper. A few years later we see that Ryan works on Wall Street as a CIA mole. Some suspicious transactions lead him to the Russian Victor Cheverin.
Unlike James Bond and Ethan Hunt from “Mission Impossible”, Jack Ryan isn’t an action hero. He’s is an intellectual who has to take the role of hero against his will. In “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” that intellect is hardly present and a lot of physical action shows us that we are dealing with a reboot hoping to be a blockbuster. You also notice it’s not a direct adaptation of the first Tom Clancy novel; the character is a bit superficial. The story misses intrigue, but is fluent and doesn’t bore you.
The choice for Chris Pine is successful. His presents is fresh and Keira Knightley, with a doubtful American accent, is also solid. Kenneth Branagh’s accent is a bit over the top, but his performance as villain is really good. Then it’s easy to ignore that cheesy accent. Kevin Costner has the most pleasant role, as the wry CIA agent harper. He’s often the viewers perspective.
Not great, but pretty good, that’s what “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” is.

Rating: 3/ 5