I was really looking forward to see this film. I’ve read Tom Clancy’s novels from “The Sum of All Fears”, “Rainbow Six”, and “The Teeth of the Tiger”. All of them engaged me and Clancy wrote the books in such a way that you get sucked into the realism and story telling make you a part of the books. Compared to previous Tom Clancy movies, “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” falls short. It doesn’t get into nitty-and-gritty details or character development as I saw in “The Hunt for Red October” (1989) directed by John McTiernan. “Jack Ryan” is very cliche with its approach to the spy and military world of the twenty-first century. Almost as bad as Phil Alden Robinson’s “The Sum of All Fears” (2002), which is my favorite Tom Clancy novel. All of the acting and character development in “Jack Ryan” is weak, and the worst was Kenneth Branagh playing Vikto Cherevin who is the cheesiest of action villains. Even more cheesy than Hans Gruber in “Die Hard” (1988). I expected more from Branagh as a director and an actor. I really want to see him do Shakespeare again. Sigh…
Here’s a list of ten things that would make for a great Tom Clancy movie:
1. Make the villain be unpredictable.
2. Have the technology match the contemporary world of the film. No Future crap!
3. Jack Ryan needs to look like an everyday guy. Not a movie star.
4. Give more realism. Make the audience think that Jack Ryan can die.
5. Have a better cast of supporting roles. Kevin Costner didn’t do it for me.
6. Don’t cast Keira Knightley.
7. Have James Horner compose the score.
8. Film the movie in the genre of drama rather than action. This means no motorcycle chases.
9. Have the plot involve more of a small-scale terrorist attack rather than full-scale destruction. Nuclear bombs are risky.
10. Kill off key characters unexpectedly. Quentin Tarantino is really good at this.
Now you have the formula of making a good and strong Tom Clancy movie. I sure hope that the next Tom Clancy movie coming out has some of these elements in it. If not, then I’ll have to be thoroughly convinced to go see it. Perhaps a call from Harrison Ford or something.
Chris Pine (L) and Kenneth Branagh (R) in “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit”
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