"JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT" (2014) Review

"JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT" (2014) Review

There have been four previous movies that featured the literary character, Jack Ryan. But those four movies were adaptations of novels written by the late Tom Clancy. Paramount Pictures released a fifth movie featuring the character called "JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT". Unlike the previous four movies, this fifth one is not based upon a Clancy novel. 

Directed by Kenneth Branaugh and written by Adam Cozad and David Koepp, "JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT" is presented as a reboot that chronicles Jack Ryan's early years as a C.I.A. analyst. I realize that the 2002 movie, "THE SUM OF ALL FEARS" also featured Jack's early years as an analyst. But Jack was already established with the C.I.A. in that film. "JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT" also chronicled Jack's years as a graduate student in Britain, his time as a U.S. Marine in Afghanistan and how he ended up being recruited into the C.I.A. The movie also revealed how he had recovered from a deadly helicopter crash and met his future wife, Dr. Cathy Muller. But more importantly, the movie's basic plot is about Jack uncovered a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack and send the country into another Great Depression.

Once the circumstances leading to Jack's recruitment into the C.I.A. was conveyed, Cozad and Koepp's screenplay began with Jack working undercover as a compliance officer at a Wall Street stock brokerage, looking for suspect financial transactions that indicated terrorist activity. After the Russian Federation loses a key vote before the United Nations, Jack discovers that trillions of dollars held by Russian organizations have disappeared. A large number of those funds are controlled by a veteran of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Viktor Cherevin. The latter and a group of Russian politicans are seeking revenge against the Americans for the latter's intervention in that particular invasion. Since Jack's Wall Street employer does business with Cherevin and Jack discovers that certain accounts are inaccessible to him as auditor, he has a reason to visit Moscow and investigate. Unfortunately for Jack, he narrowly survives an assassination attempt upon his arrival in Moscow . . . and is forced to send out an S.O.S. to the C.I.A. for help. Even worse, his fiancée Cathy suspects him of having an affair and flies to Moscow to confront him. In the end, Jack and his C.I.A. recruiter William Harper not only have to find a way to stop Cherevin, but also keep Cathy out of danger. 

Russians and terrorist attacks. Hmmmm . . . I have noticed that the use of Russian politics as a bogeyman has been very popular in Hollywood political thrillers lately. Is this due to the unpopularity of that country's current leader, Vladimir Putin? I wonder. Am I putting down the plot for "JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT"? As I just hinted, I did not find the use of post-Soviet Russians as villains original. And the villains' goal to destroy the U.S. economy did not seem original, as well. I have four more complaints about the movie. One, I never saw the necessity of including Jack's years before the C.I.A. - as a graduate student in Britain and his time in the U.S. Marines. In fact, it was not really necessary for screenwriters to designate the William Harper character as Jack's recruiter, since he was more important in Jack's efforts to prevent Cherevin's plot to destroy the U.S. economy. I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed by Cozad and Koepp's use of the Cathy Muller character as a damsel-in-distress - especially in the movie's second half. And speaking of the second half, once Jack and Harper fly back to the U.S. to prevent the attack, the plot seemed to rush forward with the speed of a runaway train. As for the movie's title - I found it cumbersome and amateurish. Enough said. 

Despite its flaws, I still enjoyed "JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT". Despite a plot that lacked originality, I must admit that I found it entertaining. Three-fourths of the plot regarding the terrorist attack struck me as well-paced. And I must admit that possessed a great deal of suspense - especially in the sequence that featured Jack's attempt to download Cherevin's files in the middle of a dinner party between him, Cherevin and Cathy in Moscow. The movie also had its share of first-rate action sequences. I was especially impressed by the assassination attempt on Jack inside his Moscow hotel room, Jack and Harper's attempt to rescue the kidnapped Cathy from Cherevin during a car chase, and the final action scene in which Jack tries to prevent Cherevin's son from blowing up Wall Street. I thought Kenneth Braunagh handled those scenes very well. I was also impressed by his direction of two particular dramatic scenes - Cathy's confrontation with Jack and Harper inside the younger man's hotel room; along with Jack and Cathy's tense dinner with Cherevin at a Moscow restaurant. The movie also benefited from Haris Zambarloukos' sleek and colorful photography - especially the Moscow sequences, Martin Walsh's editing in the Moscow hotel fight scene, the Cherevin dinner sequence and the final action sequence in Manhattan.

"JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT" featured some pretty solid performances. Both Chris Pine and Keira Knightley were excellent as the younger Jack Ryan and Cathy Muller. And the two performers rose above the occasion to really shine in the scene that featured their characters' Moscow confrontation about their relationship. Colm Feore and David Paymer gave brief, yet entertaining performances in the movie. It seemed a pity that they did not have more scenes. Alec Utgoff was properly villainous in a subtle way as the terrorist Aleksandr Borovsky. But I feel that the movie's two best performances came from Kevin Costner and director Kenneth Branaugh, who portrayed Jack's mentor William Harper and the main villain Viktor Cherevin. In a way, it almost seemed a pity that Costner was not the main hero of this story. He was excellent as the cool and resourceful Harper. More importantly, he reminded me - and a relative of mine - that he was charismatic as ever and had not lost his screen presence. Branaugh had the more difficult task of serving as the movie's director, which he performed with great style; and portraying the movie's leading villain. And he did a superb job of conveying Cherevin's frightening personality without being over-the-top about it.

Considering that "JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT" was released in January, I was not expecting it to be some top-notch action thriller that usually rakes in a lot of money during the summer movie season. And the movie pretty much lived up to my expectations. I could never regard "JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT" as one of the better action movies I have seen. And I certainly do not regard it as highly as I do the other four movies in the Jack Ryan movie franchise. But as I had earlier pointed out, Kenneth Branaugh still managed to direct the movie with a good deal of style and energy. The plot may not have been that original, but it still proved to be entertaining. And the first-rate performances from a cast led by Chris Pine did a lot to make this movie somewhat worthy to me.