Sunday, February 22, 2015

I've Finally Seen JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT

© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 10:24 A.M.

Last night, my brother linked his Netflix streaming to my PS3 so I could watch the Daredevil series this April. The first thing I watched, though, was Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. I'm a fan of Tom Clancy's books and the previous series of movies, especially The Hunt for Red October. I turned out to be one of the few people interested in seeing Shadow Recruit in theaters. Unable to convince anyone to go with me, I skipped it myself.

I was hooked enough by the pre-title sequence, which zipped Jack through finance school, the Marine Corps, his recovery from a helo crash, and his recruitment by Cmdr. Thomas Harper a.k.a. Lt. Cmdr. Tom Farrell a.k.a. Kevin Costner. Then, however, the action jumped ten years to Jack's discovery of what looked like a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy. It was as if the movie couldn't commit to being either a high octane thriller or a subtle piece on spycraft. There were parts that moved well and parts that dragged, not enough of a whole to rebuild the franchise, unfortunately.

1 comment:

StephenD said...

It was as if the movie couldn't commit to being either a high octane thriller or a subtle piece on spycraft

That was my problem with the movie, too. I thought the first part was great - a smart spy thriller in the mold of the Clancy movies starring Baldwin and Ford. Then the last half was typical action stuff. I think Pine could've made a decent Jack Ryan if the script was a little better.