Chris Pine must have big feet. Filling William Shatner’s shoes as Captain Kirk, Pine has decided to also fill the soles of Alec Baldwin/Harrison Ford/Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit feels a little old-fashioned (sometimes good, sometimes bad), but it delivers as a solid thriller and reboot of the character. Tom Clancy can see the checks rolling in.
We learn of Jack Ryan’s (Chris Pine) origin in Shadow Recruit. Forced to watch the September 11 disaster from school in England, Ryan vows to help his country in any way he can. He enlists in the army, but he suffers major injuries and is forced to help behind a desk. Not all is bad though, he meets Cathy (Keira Knightley) while in rehab, and becomes a top-tier financial analyst for the CIA. He uncovers a Russian plot to collapse the US economy. His mentor, Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner), elects to send Ryan to Russia since no other CIA operative knows the issue better than the recruit. Ryan then infiltrates the business dealings of the Russian company headed by Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh, also the director); however, the plot becomes more complicated when Cathy shows up unexpectedly.
Branagh the director does a good job establishing scenes of intensity and urgency. After the background is complete, the first fight appears out of nowhere, almost like a Boo! moment in a horror movie. Branagh elects to showcase the intricate minutiae of some of these planned plots to uncover the terrorist attack. As the reliance upon multiple people executing their jobs simultaneously, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit naturally escalates in tension. The action is shot well enough to know what is going on, though the sound quality was shockingly mediocre (it could have possibly been the theatre I went to). In addition, the movie feels like it hits its climax 2/3 of the way through the film, and then it goes on for another 30 minutes back in the United States. The scenes are tense and fun, but feel a bit unnecessary and feature bland other villains in addition to Branagh.
Part of the problem of the action is that Jack Ryan as a centerpiece feels extremely old-fashioned. Director Branagh and Chris Pine do a good job developing his back story, but compared to Jason Bourne and Tony Stark, Jack Ryan lacks modernity and complexity that new franchise leading men bring to the table. In addition, all of Ryan’s enemies are other countries; a personal touch would help modernize the character more, and give him a personal drive not involving devotion to country.
None of the issues with Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit fall at the actors’ feet. Chris Pine is winning and likeable as Jack Ryan. He sells his drive and love of country well, and has cute chemistry with both Keira Knightley and Kevin Costner. Knightley, donning an American accent, is more than just the damsel. In fact, she is great almost as a partner in crime: I’d love to see more of her in potential sequels. Kevin Costner is gruff as the mentor, and hopefully can get fleshed out in the future. Kenneth Branagh has an ok Russian accent and is nicely nuanced and menacing as the prime villain.
With origin story dispensed, I’m optimistic about Jack Ryan’s future in the 21st century post 9/11. Provided the talent behind the screen can match the talent onscreen, we could be looking at a solid franchise for years to come. However, let’s just let people do their normal accents. There’s no reason a Brit has to use a Russian accent; he can be just as menacing as a British villain.