Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2013)
Certified: 12A
Duration: 105 minutes
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kevin Costner, Kenneth Branagh, Nonso Anozie, Colm Feore, Gemma Chan, David Paymer, Karen David
KRS release
After the September 11 attacks, Jack Ryan (Chris Pine), a top-tier all-round college student, joins the Marines. While in Afghanistan, he is involved in a helicopter crash and is seriously injured. A medical student, Cathy (Keira Knightley), helps him recover.
He soon meets Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner), a US government agent who brings him into the CIA.
An assignment sees him placed in a Wall Street firm with the objective to spy on the company and see which of its members are actually providing funds to terrorist organisations.
Ten years later, Jack is engaged to Cathy and has become one of the firm’s top people. It is at this point that he discovers a plot by which Russia is planning to bring down the value of the American dollar and ruin the world economy.
All the usual thriller clichés are made to seem fresh
So he makes his way to Russia where he meets business tycoon Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh) who is suspected to be at the centre of this plot.
Viktor wants to revert time to the Cold War era, when Russia was a global super power and throw America into chaos. A sleeper agent based in the US named Aleksandr (Alec Utgoff) is to help him carry this plan forward.
Besides, Jack has to contend with Cathy who may also throw everything off the rails due to what she knows and what she does not know.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is the fifth film in the Jack Ryan franchise.
It is a reboot that departs from the previous instalments and is also the first film not to be based on one of the Tom Clancy novels. Pine is the fourth actor to play Jack Ryan, following in the footsteps of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck.
First of all, kudos goes to the production that has kept the Jack Ryan spirit alive and well in this first original incarnation for the big screen.
The character and the saga are embodied well in Pine’s performance and also in the central theme of espionage, which is very well handled. The film works well both as an action movie, a high-tech thriller and, also, as an end-of-the-world saga.
The film may end up satisfying a new audience and also surprise fans of the classic Jack Ryan, as this mix of reluctant action hero and super-intelligent Wall Street spy is slickly presented. The film also has a very convincing and, at times, inspiring turn from Costner.
Kenneth Branagh directs with an economical hand, making sure never to let the film stray from its path and does not let any filler sequences creep in.
He manages to keep the spirit of the recently departed Tom Clancy and, at the same time, puts his atmospheric touch. He directs this picture as if it were an opera, keeping it chugging at a good rate to then let the film soar through the antics created by the character he plays.
He gives the film style and strength, and all the usual thriller clichés (typing on keyboards, talking into microphones, snipers, bombs, etc) are made to seem fresh.
He acts flamboyantly and directs with the right mix of realism and entertainment attitude.
Pine is very convincing as an insecure Jack Ryan at the start of his career and is supported by Costner’s strong performance. In between these three well-honed male performers, Knightley cannot help but end up acting as window dressing, albeit she does this very well.
This film is the perfect launching pad for other Jack Ryan movies and is a welcome return for this modern-day hero.