Tom Clancy died last fall, but the prolific author's beloved brand is destined to live on. Novelists will, I am sure, continue to write political suspense stories and release them with the Clancy name in large, bold type above the title. In the same vein, films and video games drawing from his vast universe of American spies and their high-tech ideologue archenemies will continue to come in waves. This inevitable fact is evidenced by the existence of this film, a reboot intended to introduce a new generation to Jack Ryan, the clever CIA analyst often forced to transform into an improbable, world saving action hero who is surely Clancy's most popular character.

Ryan, previously played by actors such as Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford in, among other films, The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games (my personal favorite), is portrayed here by Chris Pine, the blonde-haired-and-blue-eyed A-list hopeful, a stud in whom Paramount has invested a great deal. The film opens on September 11, 2001 with Pine's Ryan as a student at the London School of Economics seeing the destruction on a television and then cuts to him as a soldier in a helicopter in Afghanistan, a patriotic enlistment implied and later briefly detailed. A midair disaster injures him. While recovering, he encounters Thomas Harper, a regal CIA veteran played by a well-cast Kevin Costner, an actor who could have played the title role once upon a time. Recognizing his courage and also his sharp mind for finance, Harper sends Ryan to be the CIA's inside man on Wall Street and later to Moscow to investigate a potential plot to undermine the United States' economy. This is where much of the action unfolds.

The film is directed by Kenneth Branagh. This is his second gun-for-hire directorial gig at the inception of an intended series (he also, of course, launched Thor). He also co-stars in this one as the main antagonist, a tattooed post-Soviet magnate who lords over his ultramodern spaces with the macabre intensity of a vampire. He delivers a fine performance. There are shades of ham, of course, but also moments of genuine menace: a vicious stare which lingers a second too long, for instance. Behind the camera, he brings a definite competency to the table. There are moments of elegant or interesting photography, and he knows how to use the talented ensemble, including the wonderful Keira Knightley in the non-challenging role of Ryan's frustrated-by-his-secrecy-but-still-devoted girlfriend. No one is squandered or demeaned. The first major action sequence, a fistfight which leaves a five-star hotel room largely destroyed, is also a potent adrenaline rush, its physicality clearly influenced by similar scenes in The Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum. In general, though, there is a lethargic quality to this project. It is unoriginal to the point of being rote, its every idea and gesture lifted from elsewhere. The plot, particularly the far-fetched incidents which comprise the second and third acts, has a rushed quality and never even flirts with reaching the intended fever pitch of our-way-of-life-is-on-the-line suspense. It is not an unpleasant sit, but it calls out for viewing on TNT on an uneventful Tuesday afternoon, perhaps after The Peacemaker and before Firewall. It is hard to imagine, in my opinion, anyone viewing this film and leaving with a burning desire for a second and third adventure with Chris Pine's Ryan, which could be troubling news for the studio.

C+

crap

It's not Sum of All Fears, but it's still not the series we're used to. I've never felt that a 2 hour 20 minute film needed more of a plot than this. I kind of just said where did the time go. Everyone acting wise is fine but I feel like everything is rushed. The makings of a solid new franchise though. It's certainly night trying to be a new Bourne franchise, but it still has ways to go. Action was decent though, as was the actors.

B

One reason it is rushed is the fact Ryan realizes the evil plot is going into motion "TOMORROW! This is meant to send the film into wild overdrive, of course, but it ends up stunting it. More time to build a sense of dread, a well of suspense, and play with the Pine/Branagh tension would serve the film well.

Honestly the best scene may have been Knightly with Branagh and Pine going through the computer. I think the subtleties of the franchise earlier efforts are missing. The action seems the most distracting honestly. It's a 85 minute generic action film spread to 2 and a half hours. I was honestly more confused why Branagh wasn't even arrested, most puzzling moment of the entire film

This is 105 minutes long.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Generic, uninspiring espionage crap. The filmmakers seemed too occupied in showing Jack Ryan as an analyst (no guns, got it? he drowns and punches people, but no guns!) to really put any thought into the action or story. It's a cheap man's Bond and a kids version of Bourne. Plus, Chris Pine is just like a young Christian Slater (also with bad acting as a trait). Keira Knightely puts on a bad American accent and Kenneth Branagh tries at a Russian accent (with much success). Where he doesn't have much success is behind the camera (as with his other projects). The film is rushed and small in scale. Much of the huge action set pieces are cut to save on post-production costs or amatuerly played out to waste my time.

Kevin Coster was good as always, and I have a feeling the script wasn't awful, it just had someone as uncharismatic as Chris Pine delivering it. So, all in all, bad casting ruined this movie, then bad directing and awful post-production put a layer bad taste on top.

D

The final action scene is a real dud. So many other films have run through the exact same scenario with superior results. The hotel fight and the scene with Ryan infiltrating the Russian office, while hardly life changing set pieces, are more exciting.

I find Pine charismatic, though. I dig him well enough.

The hotel fight was so fucking lame. The Russian office section of the film wasn't too bad though.

Every moviefone I see has it listed at 145 minutes. I went to a 10:40 and got out around 1

...I don't know what to say. It is not a long movie.

It's definitely under two hours. I went to a 4PM showing and got out at 6PM.

Anyways, I thought it was enjoyable. It's a bit derivative of other franchises but the entire cast is solid and Chris Pine is great in the lead role. B

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is a frothy little apéritif blending the flavors of Mr & Mrs Smith[p/i], [i]Bourne, and Mission: Impossible.

The screenplay was the best part - - a single throughline with more momentum than most, and I almost enjoyed the unusual short-hand editing of the action, while the actors were reasonably proficient with the exception of the bland lead who's career will thankfully now fade.

4 out of 5.

Well, this was certainly a movie.

it even has actors and parts of a script!

I kinda had a good time with this, although it's very generic and not really good.

The way TV spots proclaim, to paraphrase, "IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE SOLVED THE MYSTERY, YOU ARE WRONG!" is rather amusing relative to the deadly earnest and straightforward trajectory of the plot. The advertising strains to cast this are-they-trustworthy? shadow over the Costner and Knightley characters, a dynamic entirely absent from the actual product.

Haha. Yes, there is never any doubt in the film that these people are trustworthy. In fact, it's such a generic flick that we know 100% who are the baddies and who are the goodies. It doesn't even play with any character being even 1% working for the other side.

JACK RYAN SHADOW RECRUIT

I thought it was okay. It wasn't very engaging or interesting overall, but I did pay attention throughout. The film could have used a different tone to me. More action and less chit chat. Drop the female part of Keira Knightly. I know this is some form of origin story for JR but it was a distraction. Her teeth were a distraction too. I wish she would fix them. I thought Costner was fine in his role. Branaugh was just not convincing to me. All that said, it was a acceptable film to watch. I didn't hate it, but again it's nothing special.

Grade - B

There's a quote for the DVD cover.

B

It's a popcorn film and it's fine that way.

Uninspiring, unexciting, bland, boring, generic.. Why even bother to make this one?

I enjoyed it. Yes it's derivative and there really isn't much new brought to this genre by the film. But I was entertained the whole way and I liked all the actors in the film. I think a B is an appropriate grade for this. I gave Live Free or Die hard a B+/A-, and this is one tier down from that film for me.

This film is the definition of average.