Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Once again via DVD, I have caught up on a film I missed out on seeing when it arrived in cinemas (I keep on saying this like it is a remarkable thing, yet actually it is probably fairly common practice) and this time it is second-time-around Jack Ryan reboot Shadow Recruit. 

The Jack Ryan films, based upon Tom Clancy's best selling novels, have quite a history to them. Including this one five films have been made, each with ever-evolving directors, producers, writers and stars to play Jack Ryan. Nevertheless the series, despite being quite disjointed and mismatched, has become kind of a cult classic. Certainly the first in the series, and the only one to star Alec Baldwin as the titular character, has become a classic in its own right; I of course refer to 1990's The Hunt For Red October. Next came Harrison Ford, the man most associate with Jack Ryan and the actor to have the most number of appearences under his belt - namely Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger in 1992 and 1994 respectively. In 2002 Paramount tried to reboot Jack Ryan for the first time, veering well away from everything gone before and with Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan in The Sum of All Fears. Whilst this revamp did sort of work, as the film was quite a hit, too much time and not quite enough of an impact has led to 2014 and Shadow Recruit, directed by the legendary Sir Kenneth Branagh and starring Chris Pine as Jack Ryan.

Another radical departure from everything gone before, Shadow Recruit gives us an ultra-modern, ultra-slick Jack Ryan, who goes from London School of Economics student, to US Marine, to Wall Street analyst to CIA action hero.

As it is quite an important issue with these films, let us first look at Chris Pine as the new Jack Ryan. The beginning of the film is a bit of a slow burner (even the intro sequence is quite lengthy) yet it is essential to the reboot idea going on from the start, but broadly Pine's performance is solid enough to get us through the narrative. However I will say that throughout, I feel a tad too much is relied upon Pine's cheeky energy and charm, which do not get me wrong work, but they render any emotive, conflicted and hard-hitting acting he attempts ever so slightly moot. As Jack Ryan I do not feel Pine quite managed to harmonize the many aspects of the character he wanted to portray, resulting in an action-packed hero that carries us through this action-packed film, but only just and only if you do not stop to think about it too much. I completely and immediately believed Chris Pine as the revamped Captain James T. Kirk, and still do, but as Jack Ryan; I think he has a tad more work to do if he ever reappears in a sequel to this franchise (which I still feel is entirely possible).

Chris Pine is certainly not the only prominent star in this film however, oh no. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit's cast includes a rosta of big and talented figures, not least director and ice cold villain Sir Kenneth Branagh. Branagh's directorial vision for his slice of Jack Ryan seemed to me to be thorough, clear-cut and exact; no faults or negatives that I can see or thought detrimental to the film. His Russian villain of the piece Viktor Cherevin is broadly similar in crisp clarity; perhaps a tad strained and far fetched at times but mostly a very chilling and charismatic nemesis to Chris Pine's Jack Ryan.

Stand out performance of the film for me goes to Kevin Costner as Jack Ryan's teacher and mentor Tom Harper. In theory this role seems a bit one-dimensional, almost a given for this type of film: a grizzly yet sage military senior turned spy who picks out a young recruit and trains him into a hero. Yet Costner delivers a performance that is so understated, and seems so effortless, with just the right amounts of wisdom, dry humour, and magnetism, that leave you wanting a lot more screen time for Harper.

Finally we have Keira Knightley as Ryan's love interest Cathy Muller. If I had to pick the poorest performance of the film, then this would be it. Knightley wasn't woeful by any means, in fact there were times when she smoldered (particularly in a couple of scenes opposite Branagh). However her American accent did get a bit laboured a few times, and there were a number of occasions when she did wander into the expected and clichéd.  

Yes there is a lot to like about Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit; if all you want is a rebooted classic with plenty of pace, style and action then have at it. But, a little like Believe in my last review, there are enough elements that don't quite fit and don't quite ring true with you when watching the film, so it doesn't go much further in terms of its scope and its affect on you afterwards. Nevertheless I am still very glad they've made it, and very glad I watched it; I do feel that there is definitely enough in Shadow Recruit to breathe new life into the Jack Ryan franchise.