Sunday, June 29, 2014

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

Director: Kenneth Branagh. Cast: Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Kenneth Branagh, Keira Knightley. 105 min. Rated PG-13. USA/Russia. Action/Thriller.

For a Jack Ryan re-invention, they start from 9/11 - meaning they're following the James Bond route: ignore all prior movies and start fresh (even Ryan's first killing happens in a bathroom, Casino Royale-style). They don't even attempt some minimal validity to the older films, like they did in Star Trek by creating an entire time-shift of events; probably thinking Chris Pine pulled it off as Kirk on the Enterprise, so he can pull it off here as Ryan in the CIA. But neither Pine has Harrison Ford's cinematic weight, nor does the franchise have the magnitude of James Bond.

PS: Sorry, you need to have watched at least four other movies (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, the 2006 Casino Royale, and the 2009 Star Trek), to understand what I just said above.

Mo says:

3 comments:

  1. yes, Good action movie for entertaining but not much new things to say.It had pretty much the same kind of stuff you've come to expect...even the most exciting part which was downloading the secret files was not a big thing !. I guess the usual happy ending and the explosion in the ocean had been pictured in Batman quite nicer!. I haven't seen the old version by this remake doesn't draw my attention to character or go for series !Branagh is a competent director but here he offers nothing new indeed.
    * I guess the other strong point of the movie for you might be Keira Knightley since I know she is your favorite actress.right?
    ;)

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    1. If you want to see the older movies, "Patriot Games" is the best, and "Clear and Present Danger" comes in second. My problem with "The Hunt for Red October" is that Sean Connery's presence as the villain is so overpowering, he swallows up Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan. And "The Sum of All Fears" with Ben Affleck as Ryan is only as good as this recent movie.

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    2. And yes! Keira Knightly was the only reason I watched this one.

      ;-/

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