When you talk about a film completely lacking in charm or characters lacking in charisma, when you talk about a film that is seemingly devoid of any chemistry between the actors, you are talking about this one. And that is surprising considering the director of this film directed the charming Thor. Thor possessed everything Jack Ryan didn't have an ounce of. Where Thor had humor, Jack didn't. Where Thor had charm, Jack...zilch. Where Thor had chemistry, in the chemistry department Jack was a cold fish. To say this was a real head scratcher is an understatement. I went to see this movie BECAUSE of Thor. I figured Kenneth Branagh was once again stepping out of his usual element of Shakespeare like he did with Thor and trying his hand at something new, and since I enjoyed Thor and Kenneth's previous works, it just stood to reason that I would enjoy Jack Ryan too. I did, but just barely. Starring Chris Pine as Jack Ryan (the fifth actor to play Jack Ryan btw.), Keira Knightley and Cathy Muller, Jack's paranoid girlfriend/fiance, Kevin Costner as Thomas Harper, Jack's "handler", and Kenneth Branagh as Viktor Cherevin on screen it seemed like these people didn't want to be around each other at all.
The story was tired, lame, and yawn producing. This time around there is a Russian company that seeks to destroy America's economy with a terrorist attack that will destroy the blah, blah, blah. Yawn. This movie was also devoid of any drama as well because you knew that Jack would be successful in foiling the plot, even though he wasn't recruited to be a field agent. He was brought in to be an analyst and yet he was given a gun and sent to dangerous Russia pretty much alone. This movie made very little sense and failed to connect. Who knew Mother Russia had sleeper agents here in America just waiting to strike? Who knew they hated the U.S. so much that they would want to destroy the dollar and watch America fall to it's knees and suffer through yet another great depression? This movie DID have potential but somewhere along the way it missed the mark which is shocking considering who wrote the damn thing. Accomplished scribe David Koepp teamed up with first time writer Adam Cozad. Those men are responsible for this fizzle.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit may be on empty in the significant story departments and off on some of the directing ones as well, but as for the look of the film, that was top notch. Shot by cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos who worked on Thor is a man that knows his craft. This film looked liked it belonged on the big screen in every way. Too bad his effort was wasted. Scored nicely by hit or miss Patrick Doyle, the music of the film was definitely a hit. It struck the right chord, had the right heroic themes and the bad guy themes at the precise times. Again it's too bad his efforts were wasted. Kenneth could have undoubtedly done better and hopefully he will next time around. He should just chalk Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit up to being a teachable moment and not make this kind of mistake again. I'll see you at the theater.
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