Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Clear and Present Danger: Keira Knightley & Chris Pine in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Time Investment: 105 min.
Return on Investment: 50 min.

If you are going to “reboot” a popular cold war action hero, what do you update? Well, his enemy for one—we’ll make him a terrorist. And nuclear war? Let’s go with mass economic collapse instead. And age? Our hero has to be younger. And don’t forget weapons: this kid hacks like an assassin.

There you have it, your Jack Ryan for the 21st Century: a handsome, young nerd, battling the villains on his computer with algorithms. And for much of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Paramount), the new Kenneth Branagh-directed film starring Tom Clancy’s most famous CIA agent, that is exactly the kind of hero Chris Pine plays. He’s a man who joined the marines to serve after 9-11, but he’s no war machine. He is recruited by the CIA as a Wall Street watchdog, but has no dreams of overseas espionage. Even when suspicious activity lands him in Moscow and forces him into the center of the action, Jack shows restraint. Afterall, this is an economic brainiac, not 007. He mostly punches the numbers and ducks when he is told.

But then, in the film’s final act, it’s as if someone at Paramount decided there hadn’t been enough explosions. Suddenly, our hero is a Jack of all trades. He’s in a high-speed car chase saving a damsel! He’s on a motorcycle chasing the bad guy! He’s disarming a bomb and saving New York! Clancy’s Jack Ryan deserves a thriller based on brains, not brawn. He almost got one.