Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Branagh)

[Kurosawa Fan]

IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1205537/)

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/mike3245/JackRyan_zps3d32521e.jpg

[Kurosawa Fan]

Went to this to test out the new massive theater that opened in my city. It was my son's pick, and I'm just thankful I avoided The Nut Job. If ever a film needed a "mixed" option in the poll, this is it. I'm being generous by giving it a yay, but I liked Branagh and it had some nice, if excessive, action pieces. Costner is super Costner-y, Pine is the essence of bland, and Knightley should never do an American accent again. Refreshingly un-twisty plot is also to its credit.

[wigwam]

:|

[Rowland]

Diverting enough, but for the most part just achingly mediocre; in short, it exists.

[Morris Schæffer]

I doubt this is gonna be better than Clear and Present Danger, but it looks diverting enough.

[Skitch]

I doubt this is gonna be better than Clear and Present Danger, but it looks diverting enough.

Or the best Clancy movie, The Hunt For Red October.

[Morris Schæffer]

Or the best Clancy movie, The Hunt For Red October.

Oh agreed fully, but someone mentioned the Ford movies and how they weren't all that hot.

[wigwam]

That was me, I rewatched them all and the Harrison Ford ones are better than I remember and nowhere near as terrible as the Ben Affleck one

[Sxottlan]

Mild yay, but fairly weak sauce. Must be his background, but whenever Branagh directs anything, I look for Shakespeare-like scenes. The restaurant/heist sequence felt something like that and was easily the best scene in the film. Cherevin's office comes across like a castle with all the stone. All the other action scenes were given away in the trailer and did not amount to much. When I finally read a description of the film on Fandango, I thought, "That's it?"

It just feels a day late and a dollar short for the entire franchise. Ryan has never come across as much of an interesting character except for the first film. And indeed, The Hunt for Red October is pretty damn great. The rest of the films never matched it, although the ambush scene in Clear and Present Danger is a fantastic set piece. Never did see the Affleck film.

[Morris Schæffer]

This is the 2nd time in two weeks where I've seen something that involves a son who was presumed dead by drowning and turns up alive later on as a pivotal character. Last time was in Dexter s8.

Cool echo to The Hunt for Red October when Chris Pine grips the overhead arm rest in the helicopter.

This is a competent, very enjoyable blockbuster that runs out of steam a bit. Countdown scenarios usually never end in utter calamity, because they simply can't, but a truly breathtaking scenario and pace can remedy that somewhat.


The restaurant/heist sequence felt something like that and was easily the best scene in the film

And yet, it turns what I presumed was a fierce, intelligent and calculated opponent into a complete idiot.

and how funny is it that numerous scenes from the trailer weren't in the film?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9KAnx4EvaE

at 1:02 (this looks straight from Stealth), 1:46 (the chopper scene doesn't look like this), and at 1:57.

[Irish]

A terrific bore. Branaugh is in a class by himself, though, and I think if he wanted to he could have a second (third?) career as a villain.

Pine is ... Yeah. How does this guy keep getting cast?*

I almost liked what they were trying to do (update Jack's relationship with his girlfriend/wife/soon-to-be-Anne-Archer but the way most of this is written and played, it comes off like 10,000 other spy shows, thrillers, and police procedurals.

Also, I wish H'wood would get off this trip about super spies, high tech heists and stealing data. Jesus, what a colossal bore.

* That said I'm expecting Pine to get offered either Han Solo or Indiana Jones. He's the safe bet, offensive to no one. Sorta like human Muzak.

[megladon8]

* That said I'm expecting Pine to get offered either Han Solo or Indiana Jones. He's the safe bet, offensive to no one. Sorta like human Muzak.

You know these are both Harrison Ford still, right?

[Irish]

You know these are both Harrison Ford still, right?

Make it Han Solo Jr and Indiana Jones Jr then. For some reason (that blandness), Pine seems like a lock for action adventure franchises. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he turned up in either Indy or Star Wars in a prominent role.

[Dead & Messed Up]

He will vie with Garret Hedlund, and the sparks will whimper.

[Dukefrukem]

Not sure I knew this was a reboot. I was wondering why Jack Ryan was going to school in London in the opening scene and then it hit me. I guess I don't have a problem with the cast, even though Knightly accent was poking through in a few scenes, but I think they could have titled the movie better. Shadow Recruit is supposed to be a guy, who doesn't work the field, and has a day job and a night job. It's not supposed to be a guy sent in because know one else in the CIA can understand Ryan's reports. It's my understanding that everyone in the CIA has a 150 IQ. So if they had renamed this movie Jack Ryan: An Awesome CIA Agent I think I may actually have liked this movie. That said, the montage of figuring out where the terrorist attack is going to be was terrible as was the climax of chasing the van and the ultimate jump out of the van before it goes into the water routine. Is this the best they can do with one of the best Tom Clancy characters? Jack Ryan is not supposed to be James Bond. He's not even supposed to be Ethan Hunt.